Lara Bricker

Sometimes, the journey you end up taking isn’t the one you thought you would. For Lara Bricker, journalism was a backup plan, an addendum to her study of horses at the University of New Hampshire. Bricker was offered an internship at the Exeter Newsletter while still in school. This experience changed her views on journalism and after graduating from UNH in 1998, Bricker was offered a job at the Exeter Newsletter.

The Exeter Newsletter asked Bricker to write everything from human interest pieces to crime reports. She was a crime reporter until she was offered a job as an assignment editor in 2002 for three weekly publications, the Exeter Newsletter, Hampton Union, and Rockingham News.

Bricker wrote freelance throughout her entire journalism career for the Portsmouth Herald, the Union Leader, and most notably for the Boston Globe during the Dartmouth College murder of 2001.

Keeping her interest in crime writing, Bricker published a true crime novel, Lie After Lie: The True Story of a Master of Deception, Betrayal and Murder in 2010. This book follows the true story of James Keown, a radio talk show host from Waltham, Massachusetts convicted of murdering his wife with antifreeze.

Working for a small town paper was what Bricker liked most. It allowed her to get to know the community more and become more involved.

“Small town communities need watch dogs.” Bricker said. “That’s a really important role to be a watch dog in these little towns where things might be going on and you’re the one who is able to bring that to light”.

On the flip side, Bricker said her least favorite thing was night meetings. As a new reporter, she got stuck in late night board meetings that were very boring.

Bricker offered some advice for up and coming journalists. She says that you have to be flexible and willing to change with the times. When she began at the Exeter Newsletter, there was one computer. Now, reporters are tweeting live from the scene. In order to keep up with this changing industry, future journalists need to be up to date on all of these advances, which may include taking your own photos or videos where as before, there was a photographer for that.

Bricker currently writes a twice a month column for the Exeter Newsletter chronicling the people, places, and events in the town of Exeter, New Hampshire.