Howie Magner is the senior editor and online sports columnist for Milwaukee Magazine. He’s a Milwaukee Press Club award winner and he has interviewed coaches such as Buzz Williams of Marquette University. Recently, Magner was the one being interviewed as he spoke to Tom Jozwik’s journalism class at the MATC Oak Creek Campus.

“I think everybody has an interesting story that’s waiting to be told; it’s just a matter of finding what it is and then figuring out the best way to tell it,” Magner said as he focused his presentation on what he does at Milwaukee Magazine, as well as his 15 years of experience in journalism. He highly recommended that those who are interested in becoming a journalist, or a writer of any type, join the staff of any student publications available to them.

The New York state native briefly discussed his upbringing. He attended the University of Tulsa, where he was the editor of the school’s newspaper as well as a freelance writer for small papers in the area. After graduating, he worked in states such as Oklahoma, Ohio and Michigan as a sportswriter.

Before arriving in Wisconsin, Magner said, he noticed a change in the media industry. With a low subscriber base and a decline in revenue, he said, newspapers are in a world of hurt – which caused him to transfer into the magazine field five years ago.

As an editor, Magner said he does a little bit of everything, from copy editing and content editing to the online sports column. He’s been recently promoted from associate editor to senior editor and said he’s enjoyed his time with the magazine.

When discussing the difference between working on a newspaper and a magazine, Magner brought up the time he interviewed Marquette’s head coach Brent “Buzz” Williams, and acknowledged time was an advantage in preparing the story.

“You’re such a slave to the daily deadline (as a newspaper reporter) that you don’t have the chance to go chase down the sources or spend the amount of time researching a subject as you do when you’re working on a magazine,” he said.

Magner gave the students detailed personal experience and strategic tips on how to become a successful writer in a fast-paced industry. He’s a regular on sports radio the “Doug and Mike Show” which airs on AM 1250. Despite his slight physical stature (which he joked about during his MATC appearance), Howie Magner remains large in the local scene of sports journalism.