New reporter brings experience to paper

As editor-in-chief of her university newspaper, Allison Tinn enjoyed pulling the pieces together to make The Paisano a vibrant publication. Now as a reporter for The Register, Tinn uses those skills as primary designer for the Register’s front and jump pages.
“I love reporting and laying out pages,” Tinn, 24, said. “You don’t give a good story justice if it isn’t packaged correctly.”
As a newspaper reporter, Tinn said the job takes on a different meaning in a smaller city such as Iola.
“People here care about what their school board, city council or county commission does, so it’s important to get the facts straight,” she said. “People deserve the news. If it wasn’t for the newspaper, how else would people know what was going on. By word of mouth? Then the story is never the same from person to person.”

TINN GRADUATED from the University of Texas at San Antonio in May with a degree in English and a minor in humanities.
Besides her college education, Tinn brings a depth of experience of the world at large. A Texan by birth, Tinn grew up in Agnadello, Italy, where her father worked in the oil and gas industry.
“It was a small village, not unlike Iola,” she said. Her Sicilian grandmother was a draw for the family, but after nine years in Italy, the city of Houston made more sense for her father’s line of work, Tinn said.
From then on, Tinn was a Texan.
“It was a tough transition,” she said of the move. “I was in a whole new country, having to learn a brand new language.”
Life in Houston was also a far cry from her Italian village, or for that matter, a small city like Iola. The high school’s recent homecoming festivities, for example, were a new experience for Tinn.
“It was great — a parade for homecoming. They don’t do that in Houston,” she said.

IT WASN’T until college that the world opened up to Tinn, and vice-versa.
The first avenue was through books. 
“I began to read everything, going through 10-20 books a week,” she said. Today, her favorite genre is American Literature. Ernest Hemingway ranks at the top.
As a youth, Tinn had her first job busing tables at age 15. From there she worked as a hostess for several years. For two years during college she worked at Sea World in San Antonio where was assistant supervisor for Happy Harbor, the children’s area.
“That job brought me out of my shell,” she said. “I had to constantly talk to strangers, and I found I enjoyed it. The job also made me consider education as a career. The kids were great.”
A position on the university’s student-run newspaper however, changed her course of study.
“It was the first time an assignment didn’t seem like work,” she said. “It was fun. I’d never found anything before at which I seemed to be naturally good.”
Tinn worked as a staff writer, was assistant features editor, news editor for two semesters and then finally editor-in-chief for The Paisano, which is Spanish for “fellow countryman.”

TINN SEES her move to Iola as a good fit for her and her dog, Algy, “a mix of basnji and something else,” she said.
“I like the atmosphere here, it’s a lot more relaxed. The people are nice. I’ve gone through my phase of needing a ‘night life.’ I’m content to focus on my work and become a part of the community.”