Plugged In
Laura Stevens 鈥�04 has the same questions and concerns about technology as everyone. As an editor for one of the world鈥檚 largest newspapers, she knows how and where to find the answers.
When Laura Stevens 鈥�04 moved to New York City barely a year ago, the pace didn鈥檛 faze her. Stevens had kept in step with the perpetually moving world of technology as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal and as an editor for The Washington Post before being named deputy technology editor for The New York Times. The pursuit began after she graduated from UCF in 2004 and has taken her to stops in Arkansas, Germany, Atlanta and 鈥� for seven years prior to moving to New York 鈥� the heartbeat of technology: Silicon Valley.
鈥淭his kind of news never stops,鈥� says Stevens, a journalism alum. Every day, her reporting teams dig into rumors about tech before they become news 鈥� the on-again, off-again ban of TikTok, for example. 鈥淲e have a huge responsibility to know what鈥檚 happening behind the scenes because when technology changes, it affects all of us.鈥�
That鈥檚 why she keeps her eyes and ears on leads about social platforms, streaming services, e-commerce, bots, electric vehicles and artificial intelligence (AI). For a few minutes, she pauses long enough to tell us about the most significant tech news she sees on the horizon, and the path from UCF to NYC she鈥檒l never forget.
“We have a huge responsibility to know what’s happening behind the scenes because when technology changes, it affects all of us.”
On Wanting to Be a Meteorologist
Before going to UCF, I thought a career in meteorology would be聽interesting.聽Then聽I聽found out聽about the聽颁补濒肠耻濒耻蝉听滨滨滨 requirement.聽Around that time,聽I聽heard a reporter from The Wall Street Journal at a conference say,聽鈥淏usiness聽reporting聽is the most challenging type of journalism聽because you have to take something dry and make it interesting.鈥� I鈥檝e always liked challenges, so that sounded attractive.聽The challenges still motivate me.
On How She Created a Minor in Tourism Journalism at UCF
Journalism majors聽were allowed to聽develop their own specialties. Being in Orlando, I thought the business side of聽hospitality聽would聽make sense聽as a minor.聽When I graduated,聽we were聽coming聽out of the dotcom bust and聽it looked like new technology was going聽to change our lives.聽That鈥檚 where my career path聽鈥� and my curiosity 鈥斅爈ed聽me.
On the Biggest Tech Questions That Loom Over Everyone
We鈥檙e reporters and editors, but we鈥檙e also consumers, so we have the same concerns about technology as everyone else. The big ones are, 鈥淗ow is my personal information being used?鈥� and 鈥淲ill AI kill us?鈥� I鈥檝e posed various forms of the AI question to tech leaders and their range of perspectives, good and bad, is fascinating. At the end of the day, let鈥檚 just say I鈥檓 hopeful about the future. That said, it鈥檚 critical that we keep asking about AI. Will it take jobs? How do you know when to trust it? What about the proliferation of deep fakes? To me, it鈥檚 an exciting challenge to find the truth.
On the Importance of Reporters on the Tech Beat
We have journalists in time zones around the world covering specific topics of interest 鈥� personal technology, education and tech, X (formerly known as Twitter) and AI. When I lived on the West Coast, I鈥檇 be up at 5 a.m. to get a jump on whatever was happening on the East Coast and across the Atlantic. Now that I鈥檓 in New York, there鈥檚 still no such thing as a typical day. Anything can happen at any hour of the day or night. That鈥檚 what drives us as reporters: being curious and never assuming there鈥檚 such a thing as the status quo.
On Her Personal Investigation of Amazon in its Early Days
I helped cover Amazon during the company鈥檚 earliest ambitions to compete with UPS and FedEx as a delivery service. As part of my reporting, I鈥檇 test Amazon鈥檚 product offerings. One time, out of curiosity, I ordered a Dead Sea salt mask. When it arrived, I looked at the ingredients and saw it was made with corn starch, which made me look closer at some of the quality issues at Amazon, including the possibility of counterfeit products and other deeper investigative targets. Amazon has greatly improved its quality control methods since then.
On the Most Important People She’s Covered
We talk with senior executives at the world鈥檚 biggest tech companies 鈥� Jeff Bezos among them. But the people who leave the biggest impression are not among the rich and famous. My first job out of college was with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, where I investigated the fallout from shale fracking on smaller communities. People invited me into their homes where I saw the effects on everyday lives, including faucets catching on fire. The story became a voice for those people. I鈥檝e never forgotten.
On Where Technology Will Take Us Next
We can plan stories, but we can鈥檛 predict them. In January 2020 we thought the biggest story of the year would be tech regulation 鈥� and two months later the world shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We didn鈥檛 see it coming when Elon Musk announced his plan to buy Twitter. So at the moment we鈥檙e following. what happens next with TikTok and how AI will impact our everyday lives. The only prediction I can make is that more surprises in technology are coming and we鈥檒l be right there as they come.