Writers and stories

The Root's staff is small and its background is varied. It is an all-freelance publication. It has regular writers who write almost every week.

"That's its own challenge, dealing with all freelance pieces," she said, adding you might know what you want to do, but don't have someone to call up quickly and ask to do something if the story needs to be done right away.

But it's better to do fewer things and do them well and make them interesting than do everything, Clemetson said.