Writers at Work: From College Student to Washington Correspondent

Click on the slide show above to learn more about the program. Photos by Marie Cornuelle.

There’s no better education than experience itself, particularly when it comes to reporting the news. This week, BU Today takes a look at two College of Communication courses that get students out of the classroom and into the action: the Boston University Massachusetts Statehouse Program and the Boston University Washington D.C., Journalism Program.

Rebekah Metzler’s footsteps echo through the spacious corridors of the Russell Senate Office Building as she dodges aides and press secretaries making their way across the polished marble floors. It’s a typical morning on Capitol Hill, and Metzler (COM’08), a third-semester graduate student studying in the Boston University Washington, D.C., Journalism Program, is on her way to a hearing for the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

Joining the other journalists and television news crews, she takes a moment to review the press packet. She’s familiar with the issue — improving Internet access to help small businesses compete in a global economy — largely because it affects many businesses in her home state of Maine. In fact, directly after the hearing, Metzler has a private interview with ranking committee member Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine).

“It’s pretty exciting,” she says. “Interviewing senators is not something that journalism students typically get to do.”

Founded in 2000 by director Linda Killian (CAS’80, COM’80), a former editor at National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, the Washington, D.C., Journalism Program offers graduate and undergraduate students a semester-long opportunity to work in the bureaus of national news organizations such as ABC, NBC, the Boston Globe and NPR, as well as New England news outlets like the Cape Cod Times, the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, and Connecticut Public Radio. The students cover events at virtually all government branches and agencies and from Congressional hearings and news conferences to election campaigns.

Comprising three parts — a political reporting class, a newsroom assignment, and an internship program — the program gives students the kind of experience, clips, and contacts that can help launch their careers.

A leg up

“The program definitely gives students a leg up in the industry,” says Killian, who wrote 1998’s The Freshmen: What Happened to the Republican Revolution? “They don’t have to start out at weeklies, because by the time they graduate, they’ll have spent an entire semester covering Congress and Washington politics for newspapers, radio, and television.” Alumni land jobs at news organizations throughout the country, including the Wall Street Journal, the Christian Science Monitor, and CNN.

This semester, the program has 14 graduate students and 2 undergraduate exchange students, all of whom will put in most of their time working for the Boston University Washington News Service, the program’s intermediary with private news organizations.

“Without our news service, almost none of these news outlets would have specialized Washington coverage,” says Killian. “They would have to rely on whatever the Associated Press gives them.”

As the Washington correspondent for the Bangor Daily News, Maine’s second-largest newspaper, Metzler spends most mornings chasing down quotes on Capitol Hill. She typically writes one story a day, but today she has two: one on the hearing and one on mathematics and reading assessment test scores among Maine’s fourth- and eighth-grade students. “It’s going to be pretty crazy,” she says, rushing to catch the Metro after her interview with Snowe. “I have four hours to file about 30 inches of copy.”

By the time Metzler reaches the BU Washington Journalism Center newsroom, at 2807 Connecticut Ave., it’s past lunchtime. “There are 16 students who share the newsroom,” she says, taking a seat amid the blaring television sets and jangling telephones. “It’s actually great practice for working in a real newsroom.”

Managed by Mason McAllister, a former editor at the Washington Post, the BU newsroom is the hub of the Washington program. Students have their own desks, computers, and phone lines, and five full- and part-time editors are on hand to answer questions and provide assistance.

“Every story that’s written in the BU newsroom goes through two rounds of editing before it’s sent to the New England papers,” McAllister explains. “If it’s a television or radio story, the script is edited before it’s put on tape or aired. It’s important that our editors work closely with the students so they can ask questions about any changes we make.”

Local angles

McAllister says the stories generated by the program typically receive excellent play; many run on the front page of the local news sections, and some appear on A-1.

Michael Dowd, managing editor of the Bangor Daily News, is the grateful recipient of many of the program’s stories. “We’re really pleased with the relationship we’ve developed with BU through the Washington Center,” he says. “The wires do a fine job of providing us with copy from the capital, but they don’t tie Maine angles into the stories. Our BU correspondents report how these stories affect our local readers.”

For many students, who receive the same press credentials as reporters from the New York Times and ABC, coming face-to-face with political celebrities can be intimidating. “The most valuable thing I’ve taken from the program is the ability to handle myself in front of people who are generally considered to be very powerful,” says Phil Mattingly (COM’08), a correspondent for the Cape Cod Times, who has interviewed both Massachusetts senators, Democrats Ted Kennedy and John Kerry. “I was pretty nervous the first time I spoke to my senators, and I had to keep reminding myself that they need me as much as I need them.”

McAllister says many of the students are shocked at first by the amount of work the program requires, but most rise to the challenge. “Essentially, they’re working full-time jobs,” he says. “Their days begin early and end late, and deadlines are a way of life.”

The weight of the workload isn’t the only challenge that students face, according to McAllister. As in the world of professional journalism, stories fall through, sources don’t always return phone calls, and equipment occasionally malfunctions. At the far end of the BU newsroom, Dan Ankeles (COM’08), a reporter for Cape and Islands Public Radio, is having a rough time. “My source flaked out on me,” he says glumly, “and now I don’t have a story for tomorrow. I learned a valuable lesson, though: always have three or four stories in the pipeline, in case one falls through.” Ankeles’ source did respond the next day, and his story aired on Cape and Islands Public Radio at 7 a.m. the following day and again at noon.

Meanwhile, Metzler is finishing up her articles for the Bangor Daily News and looking forward to an evening sacked out in front of the television. After such a long day, no one could fault her for watching a mindless sitcom — but most likely she’ll tune in to CNN.

The Washington, D.C., Journalism Program is a joint effort between the Boston University Division of International Programs and the College of Communication department of journalism. Click here for more information.

Vicky Waltz can be reached at vwaltz@bu.edu.

Part two of "BU in DC: Where J-School Gets Real" will appear tomorrow.

This story originally ran October 9, 2007.