Making Headlines in the Media - The University of Scranton

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William G. Connolly ’59 R E T I R E D S E NI OR E D I T O R The New York Times M i s s i o n A c c o m p l i s h e d The lifelong professional aspiration of William G. Connolly ’59 was to work for The New York Times and exert some influence over its content and direction. It is a mission that he has accomplished. Before his retirement in 2001 as a Senior Editor of The New York Times, Mr. Connolly began a program to develop a comprehensive policy on ethics and conflicts of interest for the paper’s news department. His extensive invo l ve m e n t with the paper’s editorial re c ruiting and training, which he continues to do as a consultant, will influence The Ti m e s for years to come. What is it like to work at the revered publication? “T h e re’s a heady sense that yo u’ve a r r i ved at the top, but there’s also a realization that you have to scramble to keep up with the other people t h e re and a fear that you might be the one to disappoint your colleagues and the institution,” says Mr. Connolly. “ Eve ryone at The New Yo rk Times takes great pride in the quality of the paper, but no one there is e ver quite satisfied,” Mr. Connolly says. “Ti m e s people – all new s p a p e r people, re a l l y – we are always s t r i v- ing for elusive perf e c t i o n . ” The New York Times informally evaluates its own work in a photocopied critique that circulates internally several times a week. Mr. Connolly was a regular contributor to that process before his retirement. From the 1940s until 1991, The Times published a self-critical newsletter, Winners & Sinners, which Mr. Connolly wrote from 1987 through 1989. Mr. Connolly’s first job at The New York Times was as a part-time copyboy in 1961. He then crisscrossed the country in the mid-60’s through a series of jobs at The Minneapolis Tribune, The Houston Chronicle and The Detroit Free Press. “That’s pretty much the way the newspaper business works,” he says. “You get the best job you can, learn what you can, then move to a bigger, better-paying, more demanding paper. Then you repeat the process.” It was a practice not appreciated by his father, who worked for one employer his entire life – not appreciated, that is, until Mr. Connolly returned to The New York Times in 1966 as a copy editor on the foreign desk. He advanced there through a series of editorial positions until leaving once again in 1979 to become managing editor of The Virginian- Pilot, the morning paper in Norfolk. He returned to The New York Times again in 1984 as an Assistant National Editor and later served as William Connolly rides aboard G e o rge H.W. B u s h ’s campaign plane in 1964, when Bush was the Republican candidate for the U.S. S e n a t e . deputy editor of The Week in Review and deputy metropolitan editor. He became a senior editor in 1987. T h rough the decades, he has seen the newspaper industry change, while remaining a vital source of information. “Radio, television and to some extent the Internet have usurped the original function of newspapers – delivering breaking news,” he says. “Newspapers have become more thoughtful and analytical, providing more detail and interpretation. They have taken … on the function once served by newsmagazines. And, newsmagazines have in the process been pushed further into the realm of entertainment.” An English and philosophy major, Mr. Connolly actually earned a bachelor of science degree from the University – “a result of his having started college life as a physics major.” After almost three years in the U.S. Army as a writer, announcer and producer for Armed Forces Radio Service in New York, he earned a master of science degree in journalism at Columbia University in 1963. Mr. Connolly credits his education at The University of Scranton with providing him “the opportunity to think and to peek beyond the mountains that surrounded my hometown. If there are any things a journalist needs to succeed at, they are a penchant for studying the world and an ability to think analytically.” At the University he wrote for the Aquinas. He also tried his hand in art by drawing some cartoons – another lifelong ambition that he is now pursuing by taking drawing and painting classes. In 1994, the Un i versity pre s e n t e d M r. Connolly with a Frank O’Ha r a Aw a rd for excellence in his pro f e s s i o n . Regardless of the pursuit, deeply imbedded in Mr. Connolly is the Jesuit ideal to strive continually to do better. His life has been guided by the core principles of honesty, fairness, integrity, loyalty and civility. “(A) journalist must cling to the notion that he or she works for the re a d e r, not the publisher or the people who figure in the news. If the re a d e r s’ i n t e rests are served, the publisher’s will be, too. And so will the interests of d e m o c r a c y. ” 1 8 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 Kathryn Barrans ’86 NE W S P R O D U C E R WNYT-TV H o n o r a ry Degre e Recipients in the Media The University of Scranton has presented honorary degrees to numerous individuals who have distinguished themselves in careers in the national media. Eugene J. Gibbons ’64, H’96 F O R M E R C H I E F W H I T E H O US E C O R R E S P O N D E N T Reuters Donald H. McGannon H’63 C H A I R M A N Westinghouse Broadcasting Lisa Myers, H ’02 C H I E F C O N G R E S S I O N AL C O R R E S P O N D E N T NBC News (To be presented at Commencement 2002) Chasing the Torch When the Olympic Torch came through Albany, N.Y., on 30 December 2001, Kathryn Barrans ’86 was charged with producing a live, one-hour special for WNYT-TV. In an unpredictable turn of events, the torch arrived early in Albany. Ms. Barrans and her television crew found themselves chasing the torch in order to keep the live coverage ablaze. “We opened the show just as the cauldron was lit,” she recalls. “It was right to the wire, but we made it.” This scenario illustrates what Ms. Barrans enjoys most about her job as News Producer at WNYT-TV, where she has worked since 1996. WNYT is an NBC affiliate that reaches 552,000 households in New York, Massachusetts and Vermont. “I kind of enjoy it when news breaks at the last minute and you have to fly by the seat of your pants to make sure that what goes out is clean,” she says. “I like the challenge…when it works!” Ms. Barrans found herself chasing a similar challenge in the early 1990’s, when she was an anchor and reporter for WARM Radio, Wilkes- Barre. Ms. Barrans received a tip that Sam Donaldson was on an unexpected visit in Scranton. She tracked him down and ultimately landed a fiveminute interview with one of America’s most well-known television journalists. Ms. Barrans likens the world of news production to the Olympics. “It takes teamwork,” she says. “What goes on the air is not just my work. It’s the combined efforts of many people.” Ms. Barrans developed an interest in news production while working at WPMT Fox 43 in Harrisburg. “I like the organization of it. Every day you start with a blank slate and you have to put the puzzle together,” she says. In the years leading up to her work in television production, she worked as a news anchor and reporter at WARM and WILK radio in Northeastern Pennsylvania and at WHLM in Bloomsburg. In the early days of her career she worked on the overnight assignment desk at WYOU-TV, Scranton. In giving advice to students pursuing a career in the media, she borrows a chapter from her own life. “Do as much as you can – and do a little bit of everything. That way, you’ll be better at whatever you end up doing.” You might even find yourself chasing the Olympic torch. Timothy J. Russert, H ’97 M O D E R AT O R NBC’s “Meet the Press” John Stossel H’00 N E W S C O R R E S P O N D E N T ABC Arthur Ochs Sulzberger H’87 P U B L I S H E R The New York Times Susan Swain ’76, H ’99 E X E C U TI V E V I C E P R E SI D E NT A N D C O - C H I E F O P E R AT I N G O F F IC E R C-SPAN John F. X. Whitaker H’78 S P O RT S C A S T E R Judy Woodruff H’91 C H I E F WA S H I N G T O N C O R R E S P O N D E N T MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour S P R I N G 1 9
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Making Headlines in the Media - The University of Scranton

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