Lisa Beyer: Singapore, Austin, Hong Kong, New York, Jerusalem

Story by Emily Wilkinson

No, that is not a list of suggested travel destinations for upcoming vacations; it is a list of cities where Lisa Beyer, graduate of the journalism school at the University of Texas, has made her impact as an outstanding journalist.

Beyer, who spoke and visited with students in a recent return to campus, graduated in 1983 after being editor of The Daily Texan and working part-time at The Austin American-Statesman. Soon after graduating, Beyer traveled to Hong Kong to work for Asiaweek and eventually became a correspondent covering Singapore.

Beyer was expelled from Singapore for writing a series of investigative pieces on the government's use of torture and detention without trial.

"I knew they wouldn't jail me, but I didn't want to endanger my sources. I would barbeque my notes to make sure no one knew who I was talking to," Beyer says.

Beyer then joined Time magazine in New York City in 1988 as a staff writer.

"While it was very inconvenient for me to be kicked out of Singapore, because I had roommates, I had a house, I wouldn't do anything different. My career only benefited."

Beyer moved to Jerusalem in 1991 when she was named Time's Jerusalem bureau chief. The magazine' coverage of the Rabin assassination was awarded the Overseas Press Club award for best foreign reporting in a magazine in 1996.

Beyer returned to New York in the fall of 2000 and has since worked an array of different positions on the staff, including editor for social issues, foreign editor, and national editor. She has been assistant managing editor since October of 2003.

"I've had a fabulous time working in journalism."

Beyer admits that the future of print journalism is looking murky. She recalled that when she was first getting started in journalism in the early 80s, people were predicting the end of newspaper.

"We've lived through all those scares."

Beyer predicted that the future of journalism belongs online, but no one has figured out how to make money that way. She said that is the challenge future journalists face, because the news gathering business is extremely expensive.

"At Time we are constantly under pressure to cut costs on budgets. It started out with no free Snapple in the fridge and then it turned to not being able to send reporters overseas," Beyer recollects.

"Not having free Snapple doesn't hurt journalism, but when you cut travel budgets and can't send reporters places to report, that hurts journalism."

Beyer remembers that someone once told her at Time that writing forTime magazine is like writing on top of a cake. In other words, it has to be well structured, fit perfectly and it has to be attractive.

Beyer said she prepared herself for that kind of writing, not just in her journalism classes at UT, but also in a philosophy class on logic.

"It was on how do you know something is true and how to prove what you are saying, "Beyer said the logic class helped her a lot.

In addition to editing at Time, Beyer also writes pieces in areas of her expertise, which include terrorism, Islamic extremism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She has also appeared on several network and cable television news programs including Oprah and the Jon Stewart show.

Beyer said the future of Time is in the hands of the new managing editor who wants the magazine to do more analysis and use more columnists. The new editor wants the writers to be more free but the both will have to wait and see if that is good or bad business.

"And if he changes the staff, I may be back here (at UT)."