Ty Rushing, president of the Iowa Association of Black Journalists

Ty Rushing

tyrush05@gmail.com

West Des Moines

Work: https://iowastartingline.com

Personal: https://rushthewriter.journoportfolio.com/

Work: www.facebook.com/IowaStartingLine

Personal: https://twitter.com/rushthewriter

Describe your work.

I’m the chief political correspondent at Iowa Starting Line. I cover the Iowa Legislature and the Iowa Caucus and any interesting Iowa politics news that falls in-between. My work involves a mix of traditional news stories, video explainers, and creating social media graphics about my stories or a topic I’m covering. I also edit any political stories that appear on our website and work with our video correspondents to produce videos for TikTok and Instagram. I also do a weekly live food-review show on the Starting Line Facebook page called “TyTries.” I’m also the president of the Iowa Association of Black Journalists, a documentary filmmaker, and I do regular speaking engagements.

What inspired you to begin this journey?

I got into journalism because of reading the sports pages of the Kansas City Star growing up. I wanted to write about the Chiefs and Royals someday. I wrote for my high school literary magazine and worked on the yearbook staff. I also wrote for both my college papers, but didn’t switch from sports to news until my first journalism job at the Newton Daily News. I came to Iowa to get some experience with the intention of getting back to Kansas City as soon as possible. Ten years and six jobs later I’m still here.

What is your motto or guiding principle in life?

Never tell yourself “no.” It’s something my pops told me while I was applying for jobs back in the day and it’s stuck with me ever since.

What advice would you give to Black youth who want to work in your field?

Find a mentor! I had to figure out a lot of this on my own, which is why I was more than happy to help found the Iowa Association of Black Journalists. I want to help other people—especially people who look like me—get involved and stay in this industry. I’m an open book and I’m always willing to share my story or experiences with people: the good, the bad and the ugly.

How can the Black community better support you?

Honestly, bring me more story ideas or tell me about things you want to see highlighted. Obviously, politics is my primary focus but I want to find a space for those important topics that matter to me and other people in our community. Also, so much of what happens at the Iowa Capitol or various city councils, school boards, and county supervisors meetings have a direct impact on us and many of us are unaware. Reading a lot of my coverage and that of other reputable outlets can help us gain a better understanding of what’s happening, and, hopefully, motivate folks to work for the change they want to see.

Rushing was nominated for a 2023 Emmy Award for his film with Iowa PBS “Telling Our Story: Ending Racism.”