Thursday was the class’ busiest day of the week. We had 5 stops to make, at the New York Times, the Marshall Project, ABC’s 20/20, Hearst Communications, & FleishmanHillard. The first stop at the New York Times was very insightful. We met with Francesca Donner and Sharon Attia, who make up half of the gender initiative at the Times. About a year and a half ago, the Times was eager to talk more about gender issues, and the gender initiative was started to focus more on women. Francesca and her team researched and found out stories that were written from a more humane perspective had higher female viewership. Stories like This is 18, and 45 Stories of Sex and Consent on Campus were written by the team.
Following the New York Times, the moment had come for my most anticipated visit, the Marshall Project. Where the class had time to sit down with the editor-in-chief, Bill Keller. The Marshall Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that focuses on creating a sense of national urgency around the criminal justice system. Keller told the class that the Marshall Project measures its success in impact. Which sometimes, can be hard to quantitate. For example, Keller found success through a story that was written about Attica prison, which is known for its inhumane treatment of inmates. The story lead to the prison installing over 2,000 cameras and microphones throughout the prison in places where the guards would take prisoners for “extracurricular activities.”
From the Marshall Project, we headed over to ABC Studios in Lincoln Square. At ABC, we got the chance to talk another group of Miami University graduates, Greta Morris and Molly Barreca. Morris works as an associate producer for the ABC News show, 20/20 and Barreca is a Publicity Assistant for Disney/ABC Television Group. Morris and Barreca gave an informative look at the differences between producing for daily and weekly news shows, and the key to having thick skin in the media industry. Morris, having experience in the daily and weekly shows pointed out the daily shows obviously have a much quicker turnaround, meaning what goes on the air can be put together in a much shorter time. On the weekly shows, the cast and crew can be much more specific about the audio & visual of a program. Barreca, who often pitches episode ideas to producers, reminded us not to take things business matters personal. When someone isn’t a fan of an idea, it normally has nothing to do with the person who is pitching it. It may even be a perfect pitch for an episode, “but just the wrong timing”, Barreca said.
Afterwards, we were on our way to Hearst Towers in Columbus Square, to speak with 3 more Miami graduates; Bridget Clegg (art production manager), Beth Stebner (editorial recruiter) and Lauren Doyle (associate director of communication). Hearst Communications is a mass media conglomerate that owns magazines like Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Men’s Health, and O, The Oprah Magazine. The most interesting piece of advice we received from our Hearst visit, was through Doyle, who wishes she had more internship experience. “You don’t need to find a job as soon as you graduate. Internships are the best thing to do.” She said that having multiple internships gives you a chance to learn more than jumping straight into a full-time position.
The final sit-down of the day occurred at FleishmanHillard (FH), a PR firm that represents companies like Chevrolet, Olay and Citi Bank. Tim Race, Miami grad of ’78 and Senior Vice President for FH and Ephraim Cohen, general manager for the New York City office. FH’s slogan since 2013 has been, “The Power of True”, which pushed me to ask a question about ethics and values in the public relations business. I was then informed of the practices and thought processes of PR professionals when it comes to ethics. The business does have a Legal and Standard’s team, which is conveniently housed very closely to Race and Cohen’s desks. The team is available to answer dilemmas that occur probably almost daily in public relations. Like is it ethically moral to work with marijuana companies? What about cigarette companies? Those issues are solved by the Legal and Standard’s team.
Here’s to the final day!
PS. I’ll be just fine however, if it's not…
