Interview with Karen Mathis

Decades in the Making

Karen Mathis is the Editor at Large for The Jacksonville Daily Record. Her journalism experience spans time and news organizations. She put in the man-hours, working for the Florida Times-Union, Bailey Publishing and Communications, and The Jacksonville Daily Record (formally the Financial News and Daily Record).

I asked her how it all began, where she got her start. Mathis had journalism in her sights early on.

"I decided, I was about 11 and 12, I was either going to go into drama or journalism. So I looked, I did my research. I was a library rat. I lived in mid-Missouri. Drama was either New York or Los Angeles. The best journalism school in the country is the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Two hours down the road. That makes more sense."

So she pursued reporting and continued doing her research.

While I imagined the world of publishing through rose-colored glasses of Hollywood glamour and daydream about hard-hitting journalism happening in fast-paced newsrooms of chain-smoking writers, Mathis’ portrayal was different. This wasn’t an Action News piece about city council. I wasn’t getting the skinny on financing the Jags stadium or JEA incentives. This was the perspective of a professional who has spent decades observing Jacksonville evolve.

Downtown used to be for papermills and shopping, she told me. She’s seen companies crumble, but also create room for entrepreneurs. She owns some priceless pieces of history. She collected some items when businesses closed their doors. She keeps art that tells a story.

Mathis witnessed phase after phase of change. When the Matthews Bridge opened, the was a huge demand to live in Arlington. That shifted, as roads were built and more places opened. The shopping epicenter move from downtown to Regency Square Mall, to The Avenues, to St. Johns Town Center. In 2005, Town Center was opened with the goal of bringing tourists to our city. It was redeveloped in 2007, 2014, and 2024. 

Five Counties of Interest

In interviews, I like to ask questions like, what about your work are you most passionate about? What interests you? I soon realized this was not the right trek. This reporter's interests are tied to facts. It’s not about whether she likes a topic. News exists; her opinion is external, tangential. If it matters to the city, it matters to Mathis.

She is invested in the well-being of the area covered by the Daily Record: Duval, St. Johns, Baker, Nassau, and Clay County. The publication covers city government, county government, regional government, the legal community, retailing, commercial development, healthcare, and anything that pertains to economic development in the five county area.

"We focus a lot on Duval, because that's really the center of commerce." The news they are interesed in includes development and redevelopment in places like Springfield, Riverside, Brooklyn, San Marco, and Northern St. Johns County.

With every article, Mathis showcases her talent for research, knowing what matters, and conveying why. She has the pulse on opening dealerships and distribution centers. Her reporting covers public notices, permits, and city projects. If you spoke to her today, she could tell you about the progress of the Nocatee SoFresh restaurant, the proposal for a Carvana on New Kings Road, or which Southside office center properties are for sale.  

Aim, Precision, & Accuracy

She described her research process and how she gathers information, the type of data mining required to produce the news. I learned about the countless hours - which does translate to passion after all -  that go into creating the news.

"There is no one source or two sources. You have to know the websites to go to when it comes research. So we do a lot of original researchn our publication." She shared some top news sources, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post,The New York Times, Bloomberg, Bloomberg sites, trade publications such as Nation's Restaurant News, and websites on restaurants, retail, and supply chain. She trusts certain sites for fact-checking and knows what sources to avoid. 

"We always had editors. Everybody has to have an editor. Where we are now, we have two or three sets of eyes, at least. And some, in some of the major newspapers, you don't have that level anymore. You have one or two levels. We make sure that we have least two layers of at the least. It doesn't matter how fine of a reporter you are how skilled a writer you are."

She reminded me that we all need editors, no matter how good we are. Her excellence in writing extends from accurate research to precise grammar and diction. When she aims, she hits the target.

If I were so well-connected, established, and intelligent, I might lose interest in ordinary things. But Karen is not like that. I get the impression that she communicates with a sense of equality, esteem, kindness, and professional composure. But don’t mistake manners for timidity. Observe her further, and you will quickly discover her ferocity. She is polished and precise. She knows exactly which comma is necessary and which heading will grab readers. 

More than Ordinary

One of the first things I noted was how down-to-earth she was. We talked about TV shows, and how she was always fascinated by script development. She likes watching cooking shows, like Chopped with Bobby Flay. We talked about Law & Order and Family Law.

Mathis doesn't have much time for leisure writing or reading. She grew up loving reading. One of her favorite books is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. She enjoys Anne Rule and Stephen King. We talked about Cujo, Carrie, and creepy stories. Her husband, former Circuit Court Judge E. McRae Mathis, reads James Patterson.

She shared how she and her husband love parks. She mentioned how helpful it was for them to explore parks during COVID. They are also proud parents. I asked about parenting with the demands of reporting. She described balancing work and raising children with relative ease.  She recalled when the boys were young, and the happy times she spent on the field, coaching and keeping score for T-ball. 

I asked if she had a desire to write a book one day, to which she quickly responded, “No.” She doesn’t have a secret dream of becoming a novelist. I liked learning that, as academics often plan to write the great American novel in their free time or during retirement. I don't think she needs a book, as her North Florida narrative has already been printed in daily excerpts. 

Bylines Before Bots

Prior to the interview, I attended a presentation on the capacity of artificial intelligence. The presenters, two professors, boasted about an AI agent’s ability to quickly summarize data. They showcased this ability by having an AI agent summarize a 500-page report about Jacksonville's growth and challenges. Seconds later, we viewed real-time result. It was fast, it was current, and it was impressive.

But Karen ‘newsed’ it better. Her pièce de résistance came in her portrait of 2023’s economic landscape. She summarized current needs and opportunities, unemployment, developing tech, housing demands and booming real estate. To keep growing, Jacksonville needs to have the infastructure to support our growth, she said. There needs to be affordable housing. She focused on developing new talent, providing jobs for recent graduates, keeping talent, and meeting the demand for companies relocating to North Florida.

She quickly presented a snapshot of the five counties she covers without breaking a sweat, or rebooting.