By Katie Hanson ’25
For Maria Heeter 鈥�22, economics isn鈥檛 just a major鈥攊t鈥檚 a discipline she 鈥渇ell in love with.鈥� Although she came to 61传媒planning to pursue a degree in the humanities, after taking an introductory macroeconomics course in the spring of her sophomore year, she was drawn in by how economics encouraged her and her classmates to question the world around them鈥攁 trait that will serve her well after graduation. This spring, with her degree in economics under her belt, Heeter will join The Information, an online news outlet focused on technology and media.
Despite her academic focus on economics, Heeter isn鈥檛 new to journalism: She worked for The Student Life (TSL), The Claremont Colleges鈥� student-run newspaper, for three years. Heeter began as a news writer, covering breaking news stories on different campuses. Later, she filled the position of news editor, overseeing news writers and helping them develop their stories, and in her junior year, she served as the paper鈥檚 editor-in-chief, leading TSL鈥檚 online 聽content during remote instruction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Her work on and social media in the age of virtual learning earned her an award from the California College Media Association.
Heeter says her time at TSL motivated her to pursue a career in journalism. 鈥淲itnessing the impact of TSL鈥檚 stories made me see the power of having a news organization that was closely following different things on campus, like student government and administrative decisions,鈥� she says. 鈥淲atching my stories be talked about by my peers, and seeing administrators react to the stories that we were publishing鈥攊t inspired me to do it full- time.鈥�
Aside from her years of experience with student reporting, Heeter also held a series of summer internships with noteworthy news outlets, including the Sacramento Bee and Bloomberg News. At the Bee, Heeter covered business and COVID-19 as a general assignment intern. At Bloomberg, she utilized her interest in economics, covering the rental market and student housing as a real estate reporting intern. There, Heeter was able to combine her interests in both economics and journalism.
At Bloomberg, Heeter helped break stories on private equity firms鈥� deals around private student housing complexes. 鈥淭hose stories piqued my interest in doing business reporting and also just finance journalism generally,鈥� Heeter says.
She credits the numerous resources at 61传媒and The Claremont Colleges for preparing her for her internships, as well as her upcoming job, noting that her 61传媒education has been crucial in her development as a journalist. She鈥檚 spending her final semester conducting research on rental prices and the predictive power of the rent-price ratio, meeting weekly with her thesis advisor, Assistant Professor of Economics Nicholas Kacher. Heeter says economics allows her to still explore her earlier humanities interest because of the discipline鈥檚 overlap with history, government, and public policy.
鈥淪cripps鈥� interdisciplinary education has allowed me to take a lot of classes in different areas,鈥� Heeter says. 鈥淭hat’s taught me to pick up subjects quickly and write about them with authority.鈥�
After graduation, Heeter will move to New York City to begin her new role at The Information, where her economics background will once again serve her well: She will report on topics that fall under the cryptocurrency, venture capital, and finance umbrella. Heeter has been a 鈥渓ong-time fan鈥� of the publication and the reporters who work there.
鈥淚’m excited to be working with such excellent colleagues and for a publication that I’ve admired for so long,鈥� Heeter says. 鈥淚 think that my classes and my thesis have prepared me to go into such an exciting, fast-moving area.鈥�