LGBTQ community. An article Parrish wrote on women in Hip Hop landed her on a panel to discuss issues of racism, feminism, and the music industry. The second opportunity arose after attending a fair for minority students, hosted in Detroit, Michigan. The Cincinnati Enquirer offered to pay her a monthly stipend of one-thousand dollars for compiling papers and videos, running the teleprompter, manually entering daily stock market reports, and organizing the B-roll (the supplemental or alternative footage cut through the main shot of an interview). This position did little more than whet her appetite for broadcast journalism, and she started looking for other opportunities to expand her skills. She applied for and was eventually offered a position working for CNN in Atlanta, Georgia. Parrish describes this position as “fulfilling my every dream and desire as it pertained to writing, producing, and editing.”
For ten years, she contributed to CNN.com and HLNtv.com. She describes the first few years as her “killing of the ego.” It was a very difficult transition from print journalism, where the author’s name is listed in the byline, to broadcast journalism, where there are no credits. She had to endure the ire of tough copyeditors, but she stuck it out and learned a lot, developing both personally and professionally. Through this process, she formed a relationship with the director of the entertainment department—to the extent that, in the director’s absence, she was asked to run the department and oversee production. The on-the-job training was invaluable when faced with on-air mistakes, as she was then able to draw from her internship experiences and become more successful.
Due to her fearlessness, self-motivation, and innovation, Parrish was promoted during her time with CNN. Her new responsibilities included copyediting, which involved mentoring aspiring writers, like she once had been. According to Parrish’s writing philosophy, there is no short-cut in a writer’s journalistic development—every step is essential. She pointed out that this is more relevant today than it has ever been, with the new paradigm of the digital age favoring personality over writing ability.
After ten years, Parrish knew it was time to move on to something new and different, and she wrote a book about her late mother, God’s Favorite Twenty-First Century Angel, which was published in 2009 by Strategic Book Publishing in New York. Writing this memoir sparked her creative drive, and, after leaving CNN in 2012, Parrish went on to become an accomplished playwright. Her first play, “For Virgins,” debuted in Atlanta, GA in June 2013. She is now working to produce the play herself in her hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. Parrish says there is something about the stage that surpasses journalistic parameters. She likened the creative process to wet clay. Full of possibility, this medium is the most conducive to change and can grow and expand beyond the original intent. When asked what will come next for her, Parrish responded without hesitation: “The creation of sitcoms and movies.”
As the interview came to a conclusion, Parrish offered the following advice for all aspiring writers: don’t miss any steps—every single one is invaluable. Be open to all forms of writing. Increased exposure can teach humility and help you mature as a person and as a writer. Be open to constructive criticism. It not only makes you more bearable to work with, but it also fuels flexibility and creativity. Finally, if you are just beginning to dabble in writing and have started with a blog, be sure that you eventually pursue other disciplined forms of writing as well. This is necessary for development. Diversify, dare to dream, and stay tuned for more to come from Devin Parrish!