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Julie Baxter has been a Baton Rougean for just over a decade, which makes our city the official home—stateside, at least—for this missionaries’ daughter-turned-broadcast journalist. Baxter is also a classic case overachiever, so she better be careful. If she’s ever put on the science beat, she might end up at MIT.

Baxter earned her Juris Doctorate from the LSU Law Center last May after three sleep-deprived years studying torts between anchoring weekend newscasts.

“Everybody told me ‘Oh, you don’t have to (go to law school),” Baxter says. “But I wanted to so that I could understand the legal system and be a better reporter. I really believe in excellence, even if it is not necessarily going to affect you monetarily.”

Growing up a witness to the prejudices of Apartheid in Richards Bay, South Africa, Baxter first became interested in politics and policy at a young age. But it wasn’t until she covered Louisiana legislative sessions that she decided earning a law degree would help her better investigate the river of scuttlebutt flowing from the Capitol.

Now Baxter finds herself suddenly and uncharacteristically indecisive. Attorney or journalist, what is it going to be?

Baxter’s post-graduate resume reads like entries in a media textbook. She produced radio traffic reports, hosted segments on a local cable channel and deejayed a country music show for Clear Channel. She admits to knowing little about the merchants of twang, but her work history is a testament to what she calls a “positive, do-anything” attitude to her career. She served as editor for LSU Law, the law center’s first annual magazine, out next month.

Though leaving the door open to a legal practice—maybe three to five years as a litigator, she says—Baxter’s dream job remains a spot on the CBS news magazine show 48 Hours. After all of her experiences, she calls one-on-one interviews her true passion.

“My favorite thing to do is sit down with a cup of coffee and get to know someone,” she says, sipping from her cup.

Photo by Don Kadair