Communications Director works to enrich Georgia cities through journalism
Amy Henderson knew she wanted to be a journalist when she visited her college newspaper’s office her first day on campus.
Henderson graduated from Troy University with a major in journalism and minors in creative writing and English. She began her career at The Post-Searchlight newspaper in Bainbridge, Georgia.
“The first day I was there, I covered county government. The last day I was there, I covered county government,” she said.
Her first assignment was a story about a county budget, and she discovered how numbers are more than just values.
“Budgets are not just numbers. They’re stories,” she said. “There are so many good stories in your budget because where you put your money is where your priority is as a government.”
During her early career, Henderson said she really got to learn how the government operated. But, when she was expecting her daughter, she wanted something with normal hours and switched to public relations.
“With my journalism background as a newspaper person, I understood what reporters are looking for and what kind of questions they were going to ask, so I felt like I had something to offer, as far as helping them get their stories out there,” she said.
After The Post-Searchlight, Henderson worked in Columbus, first with the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, and then a local PR advertising firm. She now works at the Georgia Municipal Association based in Atlanta, where she has been for 21 years.
The GMA represents municipal governments in Georgia, by providing legislative advocacy, educational, employee benefit and technical consulting services to its members, according to their website. All 538 cities in the state are represented.
As Director of Communications for the GMA, Henderson said she never has a typical day. Most of her tasks include working with reporters, city officials and legislators from cities all over Georgia.
“(We) provide training and research and resources to the people who are running the cities, to the elected officials and the key appointed officials,” she said. “We want to be a source of information and training knowledge, so they’re doing their jobs right. And hopefully, that makes for better communities.”
The GMA also advocates on behalf of cities to state and national legislators, which can sometimes be a challenge. Henderson said she is especially proud of efforts made by the GMA to stop a tax plan proposed about 10 years ago by Georgia legislators.
“It would have devastated cities,” she said. “Some of our members thought we should hire a PR firm to fight this, but I thought ‘no, the messaging on this is actually really easy for us.’ We did an all-out media campaign and (the tax plan) ended up failing miserably. We put a lot of pressure on the legislators.”
Another thing she is proud of is the yearly Georgia Cities Week event, when cities educate their citizens about what happens within their communities. The 2019 Georgia Cities Week is April 21–27.
While Henderson said she wouldn’t really change anything about her career since graduation, she does advise aspiring journalists to have strong people skills, be excellent writers and know how to listen. Above everything else, she said it’s most important to be curious.
“I think big, big, big on all fronts is curiosity, even in your own organization,” she said. “Before you offer up on a suggestion on ‘This is how things should be done,’ find out first how things are actually being done before offering up that suggestion. It’s that curiosity that you want as a journalist.”
If she ever needs inspiration, she visits organizations like the Public Relations Society of America and looks through their resources to create goals.
Henderson said one of her favorite parts about her job is working with city leaders who care about their communities.
“I love the city officials I get to work with. They are people who truly love their communities,” she said. “They love their cities and they feel a sense of ‘I want to give back’ and they have just the biggest heart.”
For those wanting a career in government communications, she feels its important to have a positive relationship with reporters.
“I enjoy reporters, I enjoy helping them. I enjoy it because I know that their end user is the reader,” Henderson said. “I want to make sure that their reader is getting the most accurate information about what their government is doing. Good, bad or ugly. I just want them to know.”
