Betsi Hill
Verified
(She/Her)
As seen in:
MSN,
BuzzFeed,
Flipboard,
Miami Herald,
The Charlotte Observer,
The Sacramento Bee,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Lexington Herald-Leader,
Tacoma News Tribune,
Wichita Eagle
and
Covers:
Florida travel, food, and drink
Doesn't Cover:
Cannabis, casinos, gambling
Author of Oldest St. Augustine
Travel, history & storytelling
Speaking • Events • More books coming
Get in touch with Betsi
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Betsi Hill’s Biography
Read Full Bio →Betsi Hill is a Florida travel journalist specializing in St. Augustine, cruise travel, and wine and food travel for senior audiences. With 150+ published clips in national outlets including The Hotel Guide, She Buys Travel, Travel Awaits, International Living, and Indian River Magazine, she delivers professional coverage that serves both editorial and destination marketing objectives.
Working alongside photographer Jim Hill, Betsi produces turnkey content packages for publications and tourism …
Betsi Hill’s Journalist Portfolio
See all 33 portfolio items →
Interview
See all 14 answers →Have you ever used a typewriter?
Absolutely. Long before I became a journalist, I worked as an administrative assistant, back when using a typewriter was an actual job skill. The upside is that I learned to type about 75 words a minute, which has turned out to be remarkably useful for someone who eventually decided to make a living putting words on a page. I still type that fast. Whether all 75 words are the right words on the first try is another matter entirely.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Being a journalist means being curious enough to ask another question and responsible enough to get the story right. It means listening closely, doing the research, checking the facts, and never assuming the obvious story is the whole story. Some of my favorite stories have started because something made me stop and think, “Wait, there has to be more to this.” Usually, there is.
It also means understanding that people trust us with their stories. Whether I’m interviewing a chef, exploring the history of a place, or writing about a destination, I have a responsibility to represent what I find honestly and fairly. My job isn’t to tell readers what I want them to see. It’s about looking closely enough, asking enough questions, and doing enough reporting so I can show them something they might not have seen otherwise.
To me, that’s journalism: stay curious, follow the thread, get it right, and tell a story worth reading.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Email, please, and make it personal. Tell me why you think the story is a fit for me and give me the hook up front. I’m always interested in destinations, hospitality, food and wine, history, and people with genuinely interesting stories, but I want to know what makes this story different. Please don’t send me a generic press release and make me hunt for the story buried somewhere in paragraph seven. Give me the interesting part first. If it makes me stop and say, “Wait, tell me more,” you’ve probably got me.