Charlotte Moore
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Austin American-Statesman

Charlotte Moore, Cox's rookie of the year, is an impressive newcomer on the staff of the Austin American-Statesman's weekly Technopolis section.

Her lively features, written in a smart, literate style, describe how technology is changing the lives of Austinites.

Moore was 29 years old and in her first full-time newspaper job during the Best of Cox contest year. She didn't gain full-time status until April 2000. Yet she quickly became one of the American-Statesman's distinctive voices.

"In May 1999, I had a part-time position on the Business Desk," she said. "I was answering the phones, checking to make sure the FAXes had enough paper, and going out for donuts.

"I always wanted to write, and had said at my interview that's what I wanted to do. I applied for and got a summer internship in Features, and later I was promoted to full-time Technopolis writer."

Moore is holding down a full-time job while also raising a child and attending the University of Texas, where at this writing she is a junior majoring in journalism.

"It's a lot, but I'm enjoying myself and I appreciate the opportunity the American-Statesman has given me," she said.

It isn't the first.

"I still have a picture of me when I was ten years old and attending an elementary school here in Austin," she recalled. "The school held a writing contest that the Statesman sponsored. They chose mine and ran my picture. From that moment on I knew I wanted to write."

Until she got her break in the newspaper business, Moore worked for the University of Texas and the state Department of Criminal Justice.

"I'm surrounded here by a supportive network of friends and family," she said. "I want to learn all I can and make a valid contribution to my city."