Day three started off with a bang. The class met in the lobby around 8:00 am to head over to New Jersey to meet with Courtney Reagan of CNBC. The trek to New Jersey was just as complicated as I had expected it to be. It was a gloomy, foggy Tuesday morning but the group was still full of energy ready to take on the day. As we arrived at CNBC, Reagan, a retail reporter for the network, was in the thick of reporting on the news of the day. It had recently be released that Sears was heading towards liquidation. That is huge news for Courtney’s beat.
During our time at CNBC, Courtney was so open to answering all our questions in depth, from her perspective as a reporter. She imparted important knowledge upon the class, saying “I’m a reporter, I don’t necessarily need to give my opinion.” In her role, she focuses on reporting. She illustrated the importance of specialization in the field as well. She told us, “I know retail very deeply. There is no one else that is reporting specifically on retail. I know a lot about one topic, and that is why I have my job.” She secured her position at CNBC by being the one of the only retail reporters in the industry, in addition to her affinity to being prepared and quick on her feet.
CNBC was followed by a visit to the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR). CJR is one of the premiere publications on press criticism in the industry. CJR is located on the campus of Columbia University (fun fact: Columbia University was once my dream school, but that dream faded when I realized Columbia’s acceptance rate was a measly 8%). Stepping foot into yet another area in Manhattan where I felt could be my home, was marvelous.
At CJR, we met with Alexandria Neason who is a staff writer and Senior Delacorte Fellow for the publication. Our conversation at CJR, revolved around many topics; education, diversity and graduate school experiences being some of the top standouts. Neason was very exceptionally knowledgeable on the topics of education. We also talked in depth about CJR’s newest issue, entitled Unfinished, which focuses on race relations in America’s Newsrooms. Neason said, “Coverage is suffering because news rooms don’t reflect the people that they serve”, referring to the lack of diversity in the journalism industry. The goal of the issue, according to Neason was to start and continue the conversation on diversity, which always seems to gain traction and lose it, in a vicious cycle of repetition.
Our final business stop of the day was at Bloomberg News. Bloomberg is a company that is fresh on my radar, as my first exposure to the company was through the NYC Media Trip. The offices were exquisite, modern, and chock full of beautiful artwork. At Bloomberg offices, we met with Miami alum, Andy Martin and two of his coworkers Dave and Molly. The stop at Bloomberg had a much more conversational feel than the other places the class visited up to that point. It was this way because the class didn’t charge the guests with a constant flow of questions, but they also asked us some questions and allowed for organic conversation to flow. Dave, who focuses on business and finance for the company, reminded us of the importance of lifelong learning. He started in the industry more than 20 years ago and has had to reinvent himself multiple times along the way to keep up.
Stay tuned for day three!
