Ralph Ortega prefers to be Clark Kent, not Superman
As a city journalist and editor-in-chief of City and State New York, Ortega spends his days covering the ins-and-outs of politics and policy in his own hometown
Despite growing up in the wake Watergate, it wasn’t the politics that initially inspired editor-in-chief of City and State New York, Ralph Ortega, to pursue journalism, it was reading comic books. “I used to love Superman, but who I really thought was the hero was Clark Kent, because he didn’t wear a cape to fight for truth, justice, and the American way…I wanted to be Clark Kent.”
At the age of 56, Ortega has a very lengthy resume after three decades in the field. After graduating from New York University in 1989, Ortega worked for Thomson Newspapers, known today as Reuters, at the state capitol in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Since then, he’s held positions at a number of media companies, including a clerk position at The New York Times during the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, which they eventually won a Pulitzer for their coverage of. (“My mom used to love saying I was part of a Pulitzer Prize winning team.”)
Now safely planted at City & State as its editor-in-chief, Ortega is a seasoned professional who hasn’t met a story he wouldn’t take. “I don’t think I would jump out of a plane,” he added, “but I did go up on a Goodyear Blimp with the police chief!”
His relation to the subject — all things New York City — is a personal one. Born and raised, Ortega spent most of his life in the city; he now resides in Hell’s Kitchen, and his office is on Wall Street. From speaking with him, his passion for the city is clear, as is the extent of his knowledge of it. “I always rode the subways growing up, so I love writing about the subways,” he noted. “There’s a coolness factor to this job, and it’s especially exciting when it’s something that you’re into.”
While his day may occasionally include an interview with a former Yankee or an impromptu phone call from the governor, Ortega takes on many tasks as editor-in-chief, as he works tirelessly to cover the city he is so passionate about.
Take us through a typical day as editor-in-chief.
A typical day for me starts at 5:30am. I wake up every day around the same time and watch in the background as our newsletters go out, and I just try to be there in case something goes wrong. Then, I have coffee and read my email newsletters. I start combing through email from the moment I get up. At 10am, I join a virtual editorial meeting. After, we meet with our state team that covers Albany virtually, then the city team. The rest of my day is spent meeting with people. I write a weekly column. I’ll edit at least one or two stories a day. I provide the oversight for our New York nonprofit media website. As the editor-in-chief, I’m the face of City and State. So, I also go to events. This job has always been a lot of hours for me.
How have you felt that your beat — and reporting in New York City in general — has changed since you started your career?
It’s a lot more fast paced, and it’s in real time. Twenty-five years ago, we were filling space in print. It was competitive then, but I think it’s a lot more competitive now. And we’ve seen local news take a hit because a lot of newspapers have not survived. Fortunately, we’ve seen the emergence of new news organizations, many of them nonprofit, that do cover local news, like The City and Gothamist.
I also learned to really respect photographers and photojournalists. They’ve taken a big hit with the loss of local news, too. The last time The Daily News laid people off, they got rid of their entire photo desk, and they used to be known as the photo newspaper! The layoffs have always been a constant.
You described City and State’s mission as “covering politics for people in politics.” What’s the process for creating a relationship with a press contact in City Hall when you’re first starting out?
When you’re starting out on a new beat, I always introduce myself. I’m not shy about asking anybody for their cell phone number. You want to get to know directors and chiefs of staff; they are going to be the point person for whoever you’re trying to reach. I don’t have a direct line to Governor Kathy Hochul, but I can reach out to her spokesperson anytime day or night. That doesn’t mean that I won’t have her cell phone one day, but to do that, she has to know you and recognize you, and that’ll happen from showing up and writing stories about them.
What is the most difficult part of your job?
Not having proper limits on when to stop. It’s been an issue my whole life. For some people, a job is just a job. This is not just a job for me, it’s a calling. And sometimes the job has taken precedence over my personal life.
I think every one of us in this business needs to be mindful of their limits. We all need to practice self care. I can’t tell you how many years I went with one meal a day, drinking coffee from the morning till night, working 12 hours. It’s not hard when you’re 25 years old. Try it when you’re 56. This business, now, has become more conscious of that. We get reminded more often now to take a break, take time off. We didn’t have unlimited PTO [paid time off] when I was a young reporter. Now we do. I think the business is a little better, because they would let us carry on negatively until we burn out, and journalists burning out is never a pretty thing.
The Q&A section of this piece has been edited for length and clarity.
