Story teller: Interest in people and their lives attracts Miles King to communications

MOSES LAKE — Miles King said the attraction of his current job at Samaritan Healthcare is similar to his old job at the Quincy Valley Post-Register, the chance to tell tales.

King, 26, moved from his job as QVPR editor to a job as marketing and communications specialist at Samaritan in July.

“It was the idea that I could meet new people, and tell their stories,” King said of his attraction to communications. “Finding out what gets them up in the morning. What drives them.”

He’s interested in what motivates and inspires people, he said.

“I’m a people person. That’s what attracted me to journalism.”

King graduated from Central Washington University with a journalism degree, was hired at the QVPR as a reporter in July 2019, and became the editor in February 2020.

“Pretty much right when everything got shut down,” he said, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A native of Vancouver, King said he didn’t really have an interest in communications until he got to CWU. The introduction to journalism class was more interesting than the introduction to public relations, he said, so he went for a journalism degree.

But eventually he wanted to try something new.

“More of a marketing role,” he said.

He wasn’t looking for a job in health care, he said. But the job was a good fit with his journalism background.

“It appealed to me and it’s something I’m excited about,” he said.

His job at Samaritan includes advertising campaigns, of course, but that’s not the whole job. One of his first tasks was helping to make and install signs in the parking lot at the Pioneer Way clinic, directing people for coronavirus testing, he said.

Media inquiries come to the four-person communications team, and they write the hospital and clinic press releases. They get the word out about doctors, physician assistants and nurse practitioners, and design the campaigns. King said part of his job is overseeing Samaritan’s social media.

The nature of digital media has changed marketing, just as it’s changed journalism.

“The same thing applies to marketing,” he said. “There are just so many avenues now.”

The first couple weeks at Samaritan were full of health care acronyms, he said, and he’s had to ask questions to understand his new circumstances.

“I try to ask as many questions as I can when somebody’s telling me something I don’t know,” he said.

As jobs go, King said he has a good one.

“Samaritan is a great place to work,” he said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.