Experts Workshop brings WaPo senior editor, HLN producer to campus
Two alumni who visited campus recently to talk to journalism students encouraged them to think of their career possibilities in a non-linear fashion, to leave room for exploring new opportunities.
“Always be interested in improving, learning and growing, and sometimes that means steering off course a bit and not thinking of your career as a ladder but instead as a bit of a jungle gym,” Eboni Gatlin, BAJ’06, told students during a casual dinner Thursday night.
Gatlin, a senior producer of programming at HLN, and Kerry Lauerman, BA’91, a senior editor at The Washington Post, were guests of the fall Experts Workshop, a chance for alumni to meet students and critique their resume materials and portfolios.
Lauerman and Gatlin conducted one-on-one sessions with about 20 students Friday, giving advice on portfolios, resumes and reels. They dinner with students Thursday provided a chance to talk in small groups and share some of their experiences.
Journalism Career Services director Marcia Debnam arranges Experts Workshop each semester to bring in alumni for valuable face time.
“I’m always excited for the opportunity to talk to students because I know how important that was for me when I was in school, to have people to ask questions of and to network with,” Gatlin said.
At dinner, Gatlin described how her career in producing developed. She recently was promoted to senior producer after five years at HLM, a CNN Worldwide network that focuses on stories of the day.
“When I was at school, you were either in print or in broadcast,” she said. Her internship at Fox News her senior year changed her interest from on-camera reporting to behind-the-scenes work.
“You just have to be open to whatever opportunities come your way and be prepared,” she said. “That has been the key thing for me, not only getting good opportunities but being prepared and being ready to take them and act on them.”
Lauerman said he loves IU and has not had the chance to come back often. His career has taken him from San Francisco to New York and now to Washington, D.C., where he’s overseeing mobile initiatives at the Post. He started out working for a daily newspaper, was an editor at Mother Jones magazine, The New York Times Magazine and Forbes ASAP, and was editor-in-chief at Salon.
“I have been able to move from newspapers to magazines to digital to apps to magazines again,” he said of his posts. “I think I enjoyed the challenge of moving around and trying out different platforms.”
Students participating in the sessions were interested in different platforms as well. Student broadcasters, editors and writers sent their work to be reviewed by the pros before the one-on-one sessions Friday.
Gage Bentley, senior and former editor-in-chief of the Indiana Daily Student, said Lauerman’s suggestions were reassuring.
“I plan on moving to Japan and freelancing after graduation, so he gave me advice on that,” he said after his session. “He really liked my writing style, so no problems there.”
Senior Carmen Huff also plans on moving after graduating in December.
“He gave me advice on how to get my foot in the door and what to do so I am prepared to make the move to New York City to try to find a job,” she said. “It was very, very helpful.”
Junior Ike Hajinazarian waited outside the office for his appointment with Gatlin.
“It’s nice to meet people in the industry, and I’m going to get some pearls of wisdom about the real world of news that I wouldn’t have gotten without being here,” he said.