 Until 2001, Speer worked as a news writer, editor, and producer for WESH-TV (Orlando), WHLT-TV (Hattiesburg, Mississippi), WJTV (Jackson, Mississippi), and KFSM-TV (Fort Smith/Fayetteville, Arkansas).Speer's essays, art reviews, and feature articles have appeared in "Newsweek", "Salon", "ARTnews", "Art Ltd.", "Opera News", and "The Los Angeles Times".His feature reports have earned four first-place awards and two second-place awards from The Associated Press and a first-place award from The Society of Professional Journalists.