Geewax steps down from full-time role covering biz for NPR

Marilyn Geewax, who had been a senior business editor at NPR in Washington, has moved to Atlanta and stepped down from full-time work.

In a note to her co-workers on Feb. 28, Geewax wrote: “I will retire from the payroll lifestyle, and see what the gig economy is like! This transition began when I decided to take the advice of those personal-finance columnists who talk up the  ‘40 for 40’ rule. That is, after you have worked 40 hours a week for 40 years, it’s probably time for a change. Last year, I was turning 62. I had been a full-time journalist since I was 22. So, it was my 40-for-40 moment – time for a big shake up.”

That shakeup up meant moving last summer back to Atlanta, where she had spent many years working for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She wrote that her first full day in her “new home was on my 62nd birthday. Target hit.”

After moving, she had been working remotely. But, “It was time to let go of the NPR tow rope and see where the currents take me,” she said.

She has signed a contract with NPR to continue in the role of “contributor,” so she can still be reached at mgeewax@npr.org. She’ll be filling in for vacationing editors, and continuing to offer web stories and on-air comments on the economy.

Also, she is teaching business news this spring semester at the University of Georgia as the Industry Fellow with the James M. Cox Jr. Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management and Leadership.

 Geewax said she’s happy to have an opportunity to help young journalists see that telling money stories is important.

“Our democracy suffers when voters don’t have clear understandings of what is driving job creation, wealth inequality, interest rates and so much more,” she said. “As a baby boomer, I want to create opportunities for younger journalists to step up into leadership roles in the newsroom, while I focus on teaching the next generation. I want to see millennials telling engaging, enlightening, accurate stories about the economy.”