Above the Fold: Alumni Leaders in Journalism

Analyzing the intricate components of DNA as a potential molecular biology major. Examining the relationship of words as an English major. Directing a senior thesis production — a political allegory based on People Power in the Philippines — at a film festival in Edinborough, and a year later acting as chief of CNN's bureau in Manila.

As the dean of Columbia's journalism school is reported as having once said, after giving a lecture on the school's Dean's Date, "Journalism is not a profession. It's a trade."

And as evinced by Maria Ressa '86 — who began college as a pre-med, earned a Fulbright scholarship to the Philippines to produce a play and ended up the foremost Southeast Asian correspondent for CNN — the success of Princetonian journalists has stemmed not from a formal undergraduate training in their field of work, but from a broad base of interests both independent and nurtured by their years at the University.

Unlike many elite universities, Princeton lacks any type of communication major or professional journalism school. Yet it provides no paucity of prominent people in the world of journalism.

Taken from select years, the number of Princeton undergraduates and graduates who currently work in the print and publishing industries are as follows: Thirty alumni from the Class of 1970, 64 people from the Class of 1980, 48 people from the Class of 1990 and 31 people from the Class of 2000.

But while the statistics might be substantial, it is a look not to the numbers, but to the names — if you wait for the credits at the close of a television news segment, or glance at the mastheads on the inside page of a magazine or newspaper — that most stand out. The New Yorker, The Nation, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated and Time magazines all boast Princetonians as editor-in-chiefs, national editors, executive editors or managing editors.

"The fact that the school doesn't have a formal journalism school," said Professor John McPhee '53, "is less important than that Princeton teaches the fundamentals of writing, editing and reporting."

Lyon Zabsky, one of the counselors at Career Services, said that "it's always been very strong among Princeton students that they want to use their writing ability [in their profession.]"

"Learning is about knowledge and how you present that knowledge," added Zabsky. "And I think the education anyone gets here really encourages that and finally develops that."

And, in fact, many in the journalism profession argue that the kind of education that Princeton provides better prepares a student for the world of journalism.

John Oberdorfer '52 said that during his high school years, when he worked as a copy boy for the Atlanta Constitution, the editor advised him, "Don't bother about journalism school. Go to the best university you can find and take the broadest range of classes."

Get the best of ‘the Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Oberdorfer, who served as chairman for The Daily Princetonian when the paper's office was located in the basement of Blair Tower, went on to work for The Washington Post, where he remained from 1955 through 1993, reporting in such positions as White House correspondent and diplomatic correspondent for 17 years.

Raymond Apple '57, known to the journalism world as "Johnny Apple," similarly bypassed graduate work to prepare himself for his future profession.

"I graduated Princeton on a Monday and started at The Wall Street Journal that Thursday," said Apple.

Apple has served as a chief correspondent for The New York Times for the past ten years, and during his time at the paper covered the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War and nine presidential elections. But Apple said that while the war and the Civil Rights Movement were clearly the two most important parts of his career, he finds reporting on the arts the most interesting. His pieces on theater and food act as a kind of travel journal for the countries whose current events he chooses to cover.

Many journalists were influenced, in particular, by the Politics and the Press and Literature of Fact classes they took through the Humanities Council at the University.

In 1957, Edwin W. Ferris 1899, a former reporter for The New York Herald gave money from his family's business to endow The Ferris Professor of Journalism, a visiting position for a working journalist or writer to teach a seminar. And as the myth of the program goes, according to Executive Director for the Council of the Humanities, Carol Rigolot, "When money came in, someone in the administration asked a member of the English department if he wanted to teach journalism. "The response was, 'We don't teach journalism, we teach literature,'" Rigolot said.

Reportedly, when the English department discovered how much money had been given to the council, the department members regretted the decision. But as evinced by the memories of present-day journalists, the humanities classes were distinctive from the traditional academics.

Jill Smolowe '77, an associate editor for People Magazine, said the class she took with Washington Post columnist Haynes Johnson was "invaluable."

James Blue '91, a Nightline producer, took a class with Paul Taylor, a political correspondent for The Washington Post who recently examined press coverage of the elections and the presidency.

And Managing Editor of Time Magazine James Kelly '76 attributes much of his decision to go into journalism to McPhee, who writes for The New Yorker and has published over 20 books.

At one time aspiring journalists at Princeton relied almost entirely on individual drive and initiative to land their names on the pages of magazines and newspapers and find them in the final frames of television programs. But today's added component of easier access to the abundant alumni within the field creates the contemporary springboard that helps catapult them into the highly competitive trade.

Smolowe said that, when she was at Princeton, there was no emphasis placed on writing, nor any help in pursuing a career in journalism.

"At that time — '73 to '77 — there was no writing coaching going on. It was not how you said it, but what you said," said Smolowe. "[Career Services] didn't even have 'journalism' as a category. I just sat there with alumni books and kept flipping pages."

Smolowe had a difficult time getting a job for the summer following her senior year, so she volunteered at The Trenton Times while staying at Tower Club, where she helped repair and paint the building in exchange for her room.

From there she worked as a copy girl for The New York Times. And while she said there was no upside to her day job, after getting off from work, she worked as a stringer reporter. Smolowe then sequentially worked at Newsweek and Time, before ending up at People.

But while she might have pursued a more arduous path, Smolowe and James Blue '91 — who are both listed in the Alumni Career Services Network as journalists students can contact for advice — say they get calls all the time.

And Blue, having graduated six years later than Smolowe, knows the advantages of keeping in touch with Princeton alumni. Between his junior and senior years, Blue worked as a desk assistant at ABC. "And after I returned," Blue said, "I decided 'I'll write my thesis on television news so that I can interview people who can hire me.'"

For most Princeton journalists, from the moment the assignment is placed on a desk to the time deadline whips around, one need only look directly on the page rather than reading between the lines to discover what thrills them about their profession.

"Journalism is a compulsive drive that has to do with a love for words," said McPhee, "and you have that, and you try to figure out what to do with it."

"I tell my students, 'Do it now, while you've got the chance. You have all the outlets. And the day you graduate, those outlets dry out and you're looking at a dismal void."

Drive. Interest. Motivation. Inspiration. Wisdom — brought to Princeton and provided within it. Words. And Princetonians have managed to fill that void.