Classacts 9'8 in Media
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CLASS OF 1989 WINTER 2021 ’89 CLASS ACTS IN MEDIA RES INSIDE THIS ISSUE: ’89 Media Pros Media Memoirs Spotlight Interview Classmates on the frontlines Looking back at 89 careers through their work in media across various media outlets Page 1 CLASS OF 1989 WINTER 2021 LEADERSHIP President’s Corner - John Van Hooser As I sit down to write this piece, half of the Dartmouth undergraduates are just about to end their quarantine period ahead of the still mostly class-by-Zoom Winter Term. Grow- ing up in New Hampshire, I never really minded Winter Term—I was used to the cold and the dark and I actually enjoyed the days when it got really cold. It gave me an opportunity to chuckle at the fair-weather kids from California who were not at all prepared for their hair to freeze between classes. Now, however, after nearly 25 years in California, I would be one of those fair-weather kids! I feel for the students there now having to deal with a COVID-induced isolation that is much greater than what the Upper Valley winters normally dole out and am reminded how lucky we were by comparison—though we may not always have felt that way when it was dark at I am constantly amazed by the incredible things 4PM, the wind was blowing 30 miles per that our ’89 classmates have seen and done ...... hour, and we had to walk across campus and feel ever fortunate to be connected to all of for one thing or another. you through Dartmouth. The editor of this newsletter, Alec Scott, has put together a wonderful series of remembrances from many of our ’89 classmates who have spent some or all of their careers in the media. I hope that you get a chance to read all of them— they are really excellent! I am constantly amazed by the incredible things that our ’89 classmates have seen and done since leaving Hanover and feel ever fortunate to be connected to all of you through Dartmouth. Lastly, I will make a pitch for our upcoming virtual Mini-Reunions. COVID has interfered with our ability to gather, and it looks like that’s not going to dramatically change for a while yet. We have had a lot of great virtual ’89 events, but these are different. Your class Mini Reunion chairs, Karla Cohen, Katy Klinkenberg and Jennifer O’Shaughnessy are planning micro virtual reunions this spring. I hope you will all try to participate. In March, we are looking to have a series of self-hosted reunions for ’89s based on your LSA/FSP trips, and in April or May another series based on UGA groups and/or Freshman trips. Connecting and actually talking on Zoom with more than a handful of people is difficult, so the idea is to break it down into smaller groups based on a common experience. Please reach out to Karla, Katy or Jennifer to volunteer to host (details on pg. 17). It’s much easier to organize than throwing an actual party! Don’t forget to pay your CLASS DUES! Click on this link: http://1989.dartmouth.org/s/1353/ clubs-classes-interior.aspx- ?sid=1353&gid=183&pgid=7730 Page 2 CLASS OF 1989 WINTER 2021 Newsletter Editor Note CONNECTION At one point when pulling this together, my Shuffle pulled up that now-old pop song, Under Pressure, the collaboration between David Bowie and Freddie Mercury et al. You know the one: “Pressure, pushing down on me ...” In this extraordinary year, we’ve all had to weather different sorts of pressure. With that in mind, this newsletter has featured classmates whose work has put them, in various ways, on the front lines. We’ve done special issues on health-care work- ers, educators and now, this one, on media pros. As a science-focused reporter at the storied Philadelphia Inquirer, Tom Avril has taken aim repeatedly at the moving target of Covid, trying to translate the expertise of the people he interviews into reliable, usable infor- mation for his readers (see p. 12). A longtime editor at the Washington Post, Debbi Wilgoren writes, in her sol- id, thoughtful way, about what it’s been like to try to get across some of the key stories about the storming of the Capitol in January (p. 6). They’re among the people writing the first draft of the history of this freighted time. It’s been a time requiring great flexibility of us all. As Executive Vice President and General Manager of ESPN+, Russell Wolff has had to make, in Grace Paley’s words, enormous changes at the last minute, as sports matches get cancelled, often just moments before game time (p. 18). The coronavirus has also had knock-on effects on businesses, large and small, and Jamie Heller, at the Wall Street Journal, has helped to coordinate coverage of those enterprises that have been capsized by this Perfect Storm – and those which, with a mix of luck and savvy, have thrived (starting below). One of the thrivers has been the documentary streaming service, Curiosity Stream, a platform that Clint Stinchcomb has recently helped go global (p. 20). And so here are some of this class’s leaders in this field, a mix of writers and editors, some broadcasters and producers (for TV, radio and Internet outlets), some film makers, book authors and media execs. As the newly appointed Dean of U.C. Berkeley’s journalism school, Geeta Anand is working to equip the next generation of would-be Pulitzer winners with the tools they need – and to ensure, moving forward, that a greater mix of people get both the high privilege and weighty responsibility of telling this society’s stories. (The opening of her note on accepting the post is excerpted on p. 11). I’m sure those featured in these pages have had their bad and unproductive days in this challenging time, but on others they’ve managed to muster some resilience and creativity, to find some grace under pressure. Alec Scott Stay Connected: Visit our website: 1989.dartmouth.org Send news to: [email protected] Join our “Dartmouth Class of 1989” groups on Facebook and LinkedIn If you are not recieving classwide emails, please email John Van Hooser at [email protected] Page 3 CLASS OF 1989 WINTER 2021 IN THE MEDIA BUSINESS AND COVID Jamie Heller has worked for the last 18 years in various roles at The Wall Street Journal. She is currently its Business Editor. Covid-19 has been the biggest business story I’ve ever covered – and the most surprising. We’d covered many crises before – hurricanes, the housing crisis, the financial crisis. But this virus was poised to affect every factory, store, office, worker, supplier and customer, everywhere around the globe essentially at once. The world embarked on a giant experiment in Jamie Heller, at the Journal’s offices in Hong Kong, 2019 shutting down vast swaths of economic activity. For business journalists, that meant a torrent of news. We all became pandemic reporters. But by the summer, the outlook grew more nuanced. Thanks partly to Fed support and It was an enormous challenge for us, as well government aid, stocks were rising again. For as the people we were covering. From CEOs some goods and services, demand was soaring of the world’s biggest companies to owners – laptops, houses, pools, bicycles, puppies, of restaurants and corner stores, every leader Pelotons! Some governments were lifting was in unfamiliar territory, making high-stakes restrictions, and more clarity emerged on the decisions based on evolving science and shifting steps that were (masks) and weren’t (washing government policies. Their failures and successes groceries) seen as helpful and necessary to were our stories. slowing the spread. At first, the news was almost entirely bad. By the end of the year, while many small Supply chains snarled. Travel stalled. Demand businesses continued to struggle, many big shriveled for everything from clothes to concert companies were reporting stability or growth. tickets. There were furloughs, pay cuts, layoffs Even some that were set back early on, like and bankruptcies. It seemed even the pandemic’s Airbnb, found ways to thrive and wow Wall “winners” would suffer. Consumers turned to Street. watch streaming services during lockdowns, but the virus stopped studios from working on This year, the pandemic business coverage new content. Retailers like Walmart had greater may not prove as acute, but it promises to be as demand, but also new complications and expenses complex as the virus surges ahead while society as they tried to keep employees and customers races to vaccinate. What consumer practices and safe. Users were flocking to social media, but behaviors once seen as temporary will become the marketers pulled back on ad spending. new norm? In what ways will tech become more prevalent? Will remote work stick? Much of our time was consumed covering companies like Hertz and Neiman Marcus that One of the many wonderful things about a career were debt-laden before the pandemic and quickly in journalism is that you get paid to pursue a life succumbed to bankruptcy. of learning. I look forward to the surprises that await. Page 4 CLASS OF 1989 WINTER 2021 IN THE MEDIA THE MISSION Martin Fackler is Assistant Asia Editor for The vivors in the smoldering ruins of the village shopping New York Times. The author of five books in Japanese, street with one eye on the quickest route to a bomb he has served as Tokyo bureau chief for the Times shelter, in case the North Koreans fired another round.