Making Headlines in the Media - The University of Scranton

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Mr. Gibbons poses a question to then President Clinton during a White House Conference. Gene Gibbons ’64, H’96 F O R ME R C H I E F W H I T E H O U S E C O R R E S P O N D E N T, R E U T E R S Politics and the Press Gerald Ford is a down-to-earth ordinary Joe; Jimmy Carter – intense and deeply religious. Ronald Reagan is very detached and George Bush, Sr., has a terrific sense of humor. Bill Clinton squandered an enormous talent. These are the observations of Gene Gibbons ’64 H’96, who got to know several American presidents during a career that spanned three decades reporting on the White House. M r. Gibbons began covering Wa s h i n g t o n politics as a correspondent for United Pre s s International (UPI) in 1969. He worked for U PI until 1985, serving as the White Ho u s e C o r respondent for UPI Radio before becoming the Chief White House correspondent for Reuters from 1985 to 1997. Although Mr. Gibbons cove red the Watergate story, he became most familiar with the presidents who served after the scandal. “Not all were like their public images,” he says. Ac c o rding to Mr. Gibbons, Pre s i d e n t C a rter struggled greatly with the morals of an issue. He believes that President Cart e r’s contributions to the good of humanity, especially those made after the pre s i d e n c y, are gre a t l y u n d e restimated. M r. Gibbons also believes Pre s i d e n t Clinton to be the most brilliant of the pre s i- dents that he has known. “Un f o rt u n a t e l y, he is also the most self-indulgent and undisciplined,” he adds. “ President Bush (senior) is ve ry friendly and has quite a sense of humor,” says Mr. Gi b b o n s . President Bush joked with him about his dislike for broccoli; Mr. Gibbons wrote a s t o ry about it. The rest is history. M r. Gi b b o n s’ proudest moment, howe ve r, did not invo l ve covering a story, but serving as a panelist in the final debate of the 1992 pre s i- dential election. (His second pro u d e s t moment was addressing the 1996 Un i ve r s i t y of Scranton commencement and receiving an h o n o r a ry degree.) He is quite re ve rent about his responsibility to pose re vealing questions that would help the American people make an informed decision re g a rding their next leader. Helping inform Americans is something M r. Gibbons continues to do to this day as the Deputy Di rector and Managing Editor of Stateline.org. Funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, Stateline.org is an Internet publication founded to encourage and support enhanced c overage of state governments. Journalists and the general public use the free site. “The need for this service stems from the consolidation of the newspaper industry and an abdication from responsibility to cove r state government,” says Mr. Gi b b o n s . It is also the result of the availability of a n ew medium – the Internet. “The In t e r n e t’s strength is its quickness and ability to find specific information, which is also its downfall,” explains Mr. Gi b b o n s . “ On the We b, you only see what you are i n t e rested in. You miss the opportunity to be pulled into a fascinating story that can happen with a newspaper or magazine.” Ac c o rding to Mr. Gibbons, each medium has its strengths and we a k n e s s e s . “Wo rds have a power that is unequalled by sound and pictures,” says Mr. Gibbons, who has worked in radio, television (part of his U PI duties) and print. “TV is not a writer’s medium. The pictures are powe rful and distract from the word s . ” M r. Gi b b o n s’ first exposure to multiple media occurred at the Un i ve r s i t y. The En g l i s h major wrote for the Aq u i n a sand for the Un i ve r s i t y’s literary magazine. He also serve d as the general manager of the Un i ve r s i t y’s radio station, W U S V- F M . The Scranton native believes his education and his training as a ROTC cadet at The University of Scranton prepared him well for his career. “I am enormously fortunate for my care e r, and I credit the inspiration that I re c e i ved to teachers like Professor Ma t t h ew O’Ro u rk e a n d William J. Devlin, S.J., who encouraged my intellectual curiosity,” says Mr. Gi b b o n s . As a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, he served in Korea. As a journalist, his career took him to over 70 countries and six continents. “The one thing that I learned at the Un i versity that has served me well is the ability to draw a conclusion from the facts,” says M r. Gi b b o n s . Regardless of the medium, you can’t underestimate that message. 1 6 T H E S C R A N T O N J O U R N A L
M A K I N G H E A D L I N E S I N T H E M E D I A John A. Walsh ’66 E X E C U T I V E E D I T O R ESPN A Goal Worth Making In the world of sports journalism, being named Executive Editor of ESPN is like winning the Super Bowl. For John A. Walsh ’66, the championship job came after many losses. Still, he never lost the will to stay in the game. “ I ’ve been working in this business for 36 ye a r s and I can honestly say that I was unhappy for a total of only five or six months,” says Mr. Walsh. “I love what I do. And so, it’s been gre a t . ” The “greatness” didn’t come easily for Mr. Walsh. In the 22 years leading up to his appointment at ESPN, he moved from coast to coast, holding numerous posts in newspapers and magazines, and working as a freelancer and consultant for many media companies. After graduating from the University, he worked at the sports desk at The Missourian, while pursuing graduate studies at Northwest Missouri State University. His penchant for sports led him to the Missouri State library almost daily, where he pored over the sports pages of newspapers and magazine. In 1970, he joined Newsday as an overnight news copy editor and, later, served as the op-ed editor for a new Sunday page launched by Newsday in 1972. Through an editorial project for Newsday, Mr. Walsh made some connections at Rolling Stone magazine. In 1973, he was named to the coveted position of Managing Editor at Rolling Stone. This seemingly huge win in the world of journalism ended abruptly one year later when he was asked to step down. After four years of f reelancing on the We s t Coast – including the p reparation of a docum e n t a ry for the 1976 Super Bowl – Mr. Wa l s h landed a top post at T h e Po s t: He was named Assignment Editor of the Style Se c t i o n at The Washington Post in 1978. “We had all the top writers – Sa l l y Quinn, Tom Shales, Paul He n d r i c k s o n , He n ry Allen, Paul Richards and others,” recalls Mr. Wa l s h . When Newsweek, owner of The Washington Post, began planning for a new magazine to rival Sports Illustrated, Mr. Walsh was recruited to head up the efforts. Inside Sports Magazine was launched in 1980. Thirty-three issues later, the magazine folded. It was déjà vu for Mr. Walsh. From 1982 – 1985, he worked as a consultant for numerous publications and corporations, including Es q u i re magazine. In 1985, he was named Managing Editor at U.S. News & Wo rl d Re p o rt. After resigning from U.S. Ne w s, he returned to consulting, this time for such companies as CBS Sp o rt s . In 1987, he was offered the lead job on sports and information at ESPN, Inc., a company that today is the worldwide leader in sports. Since 1990, Mr. Walsh has served as Exe c u t i ve Editor of ESPN, ove r s e e i n g all studio and informational pro g r a m- ming. He has overseen the launch of ESPN The Ma g a z i n eand ESPN Radio, and was instrumental in developing the n ews and information elements of ESPN2. He also has responsibilities for c re a t i ve development and editorial d i rection of ESPN.com, NBA.com, NASCAR Online, W N B A . c o m , A B C Sp o rts.com and So c c e r n e t . “In our early days, ESPN was the underdog,” says Mr. Walsh. “We were always striving to do better. We’d look at the competition and say ‘They’re doing this. Why can’t we?’ ” ESPN took on the competition by adapting to change – a skill perfected by Mr. Walsh over the years – and by delivering a solid product to a defined market audience. Under Mr. Walsh’s direction, ESPN’s news and information programming has won 25 CableACE Awards and 28 Sports Emmy Awards. His excellence in the communications field was recognized by The University of Scranton in 1991, when Mr. Walsh was presented a Frank J. O’Hara Award, which recognizes alumni and others who have achieved distinction in their professions or personal endeavors. “Our job is to create a body of work that appeals to the interests of a defined audience,” says Mr. Walsh of his work. “We ‘helicopter up’ to look at all the media available and then select the ones that will best deliver our message.” As John Walsh knows, the helicopter ride to the top can be choppy at times. The key to success is to keep sight of your goal. S P R I N G 1 7
Page 1 and 2: S P R I N G 2 0 0 2 S CR ANTO N J O
Page 3 and 4: S CR ANTO N J O U R N A L SPRING 20
Page 5 and 6: Students Employment, Salaries Stron
Page 7 and 8: Speakers Financial Executive Yields
Page 9 and 10: Alumni News President’s Business
Page 11 and 12: HOPKINS ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT FROM C
Page 13 and 14: They’ve covered presidential camp
Page 15: Edward J. Lynett, Jr. ’65, H’93
Page 19 and 20: M A K I N G H E A D L I N E S I N T
Page 21 and 22: Richard Bevilacqua, D.M.D., M.D., (
Page 23 and 24: Sons and daughters of alumni in the
Page 25 and 26: 82 James A. Callaghan, Nicholson Pa
Page 27: EDUCATION OPPORTUNITY HOPE FOR 114

Making Headlines in the Media - The University of Scranton

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?