By Richard Chung, Intern, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty

The Pope’s 2015 visit to the U.S. was one of the biggest religion stories of the year. Little did Julie Zauzmer know that it would also serve as the gateway to her role as religion reporter for The Washington Post. Addressing the D.C. chapter of the Religion Communicators Council on February 15, 2017, Zauzmer offered advice for more effective public relations with the media and shared her personal experience and perspective as a religion reporter.

Though relatively new to the realm of religion reporting, Zauzmer served as the managing editor of the Harvard Crimson and had a brief stint at the Philadelphia Inquirer before joining The Washington Post staff in January 2014. She spent her first two years on the local beat before taking on her current position.