Dean-To-Be Sarah Bartlett Discusses Her Vision for the CUNY J-School
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FALL 2013 Vol. 8, No. 1 INSIDESTORY WWW.JOURNALISM.CUNY.EDU Dean-to-be Sarah Bartlett Discusses Her Vision for the CUNY J-School On Sept. 30, the CUNY Board of Trustees, acting on the education, offering an executive degree program, and enthusiastic recommendation of Interim Chancellor creating a summer intensive program for international William P. Kelly, named Sarah Bartlett the next dean of students and others. the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. She will succeed Founding Dean Stephen B. Shepard on Jan. 1, 2014. Tell us your ideas about recruiting faculty and staff. Bartlett, who heads the Urban Reporting Program, is All too often we recruit in a hurry, in response to a charter member of the faculty and has been involved someone moving to a different job or leaving the with almost every facet of the J-School’s operations since school. I want to be much more proactive by devel- we opened in 2006. In addition to creating and staffing oping a talent scout approach. I’d like to invite ev- the urban and business/economics subject concentrations, eryone to send me names of people we can reach out she sat on the admissions and curriculum committees, to in advance so that when we have a specific need, launched the Center for Community and Ethnic Media, we already have a diverse pool of talent we can tap. raised nearly $2 million, and was the principal writer of the five-year strategic plan. Talk about your role as a fundraiser. She has extensive journalism experience across media I am pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoy platforms, and has written two books. [See Dean’s Corner, fundraising. It was a genuine reaction to meet- page 3.] ing with foundations and individual donors as we On Oct. 10, Bartlett sat down for a Q&A session with were raising money for the Community and Ethnic InsideStory Editor Amy Dunkin. Media Center. There’s something very appealing about spending a couple of hours talking to some- What made you want to be a journalist? one about the work we’re doing, watching them get My interest stems from working with a documentary excited, and listening to them offer ways to help. I filmmaker as his research assistant fresh out of grad- love nothing more than opening an envelope and uate school. I got to travel all over the world with finding a check inside. a film crew and when I would return from a trip, I would feel compelled to write up my experiences. It Describe your management style. made me realize I wanted to be a journalist. I try to be very open and transparent about my thinking, to explain goals clearly, and to give When did you know you wanted to be the next dean, people room to do their jobs. I also try to hold and why did you take on the challenge? them accountable for meeting those goals. I try A couple of years ago, when Steve [Shepard] began to be very inclusive and invite diverse opinions. I want to build an esprit de corps so people feel discussing the possibility of retiring, it dawned on Sarah Bartlett me there would be a new job opening up. At that invested in a common purpose. time, I had started working on creating the Center for Community and Ethnic Media. I was doing “We’re one of the top journalism What words of encouragement can you give to fundraising and discovered how much I liked get- our students as they prepare to enter a changing ting people on the outside interested in our work. graduate schools in the country, profession? My interest in becoming dean was a combination and I would love to make us No. 1.” I continue to feel that it’s one of the most exciting of being at the J-School from the beginning, building times to be in journalism. The number of outlets two subject concentrations, participating in curriculum publishing stories and the ways to tell quality stories development, creating a new center, and helping to write the strategic plan. I had a lot of are growing. The battle the profession is having with the U.S. government now is a ideas about the role our school plays in our urban environment and the development of wonderful example of how important journalism is to a functioning democracy. the journalism profession. So I decided to throw my hat in the ring. It’s a difficult business to be in. If you want to make a lot of money, you wouldn’t choose journalism. But that was true when I was starting out. If you’re talented and work hard, if What are your priorities for the J-School? you’re a strong reporter and a producer of innovative stories, you will be successful. Plenty of I feel that the school is already in a very strong place. We’re one of the top jour- our alums are out there proving that. nalism graduate schools in the country, and I would love to make us No. 1. We need to build on all our strengths – our commitment to being innovative, our Reveal something about yourself that nobody knows. strong faculty, our diversity – and find ways to turn up the dial. I know how to mix a mean batch of concrete. I can build foundations and lay bricks. JOHN SMOCK I’m eager to see the ideas in the strategic plan get implemented. We need to build into I renovated for seven years of my life. I dug all the ditches for our first house in lower the curriculum more career development skills that focus on freelancing and entrepre- Manhattan. n neurship. We also need to pursue key opportunities for growth – by expanding online IN THIS ISSUE: 2 New Business Journalism Center • Egyptian Journalist in Residence • 3 On the Job with Almudena Toral • Dean’s Corner 4 Donor List • Remembering Harold W. McGraw, Jr. 5 Interns Around the World 6 Raising a “Beatle Baby” Book • Alumni News VOL. 8, NO. 1 FALL 2013 1 Publishing Family Endows New Business Journalism Center s part of the fallout from a decade’s worth of Finally, as part of its mission to serve the greater professional community, the Center changes in the media, many news organizations will hold an annual conference on a subject important to business writers and editors. It A no longer have the resources to tackle long, com- will also offer continuing education workshops on a variety of topics, such as the use of plex business and economics stories. To help reverse the social media in business reporting or how to mine databases to find story ideas. slide in coverage of these issues, the CUNY Graduate School Veteran business journalist Jane Sasseen will serve as executive director, starting of Journalism will establish the Harold W. McGraw, Jan. 1, 2014. In addition to selecting reporting projects to be funded by the Center, she Jr. Center for Business Journalism to support veteran will work on her own stories. Sasseen was a senior editor and national correspondent reporters and train students entering the field. at BusinessWeek, editor-in-chief of the politics and opinion channel at Yahoo! News, The new Center will be financed by a $3 mil- and is currently a visiting professor in the Global Business Journalism Program at Ts- lion gift from the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Family inghua University in Beijing. She majored in economics at the University of California, Foundation, started in 2010 by Suzanne, Terry, Berkeley, from which she graduated Phi Beta Kappa. and Bob McGraw. They are the children of the former chairman and CEO of McGraw-Hill, a A primary goal of the Center is to commission publishing and financial services company that owned BusinessWeek magazine for 80 years. The serious business and economic stories from Center will also receive support from the City accomplished journalists. Executive Director Jane Sasseen University of New York and the CUNY Gradu- ate School of Journalism. The CUNY Graduate School of Journalism is the natural home for a business “My father loved business, journalism, and education,” said Harold “Terry” McGraw journalism center. It already offers a business/economics reporting concentration for III, chairman and CEO of McGraw Hill Financial. “We are thrilled to create the Center students who want a career in business journalism or simply seek to gain expertise in in his name to preserve his special legacy and to benefit the vital work of business economics, financial markets, and how companies work. In addition, the Society of reporters.” Harold McGraw, Jr. died in 2010 at age 92. [See profile, page 4.] American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) holds its annual fall conference at A primary goal of the Center is to commission serious business and economics stories from the J-School. accomplished journalists. It will pay McGraw Fellows a stipend of around $7,500 a month for “The Center will enhance our programs and allow both current and future business three to six months of work, resulting in a distinguished piece of long-form business journal- journalists to devote themselves fully to the art and science of business reporting,” said ism to be published on the Center’s website or in collaboration with media partners. Dean Stephen B. Shepard, who spent 20 years as editor-in-chief of BusinessWeek. To promote the development of future business journalists, the Center will also fund The Center for Business Journalism, which was approved by the CUNY Board of scholarships for students who choose the CUNY J-School’s business/economics report- Trustees at a meeting on Sept.