Moving on:

Rodd Cayton

Rodd Cayton (Summers 1997 and 1998) is a reporter for the Mohave Valley Daily News in Bullhead City, Ariz. Previously he was a reporter for The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, Calif.

Raven Hill (Summer 1997) is a reporter in Baltimore for The Sun, covering county government. Previously she was seminars coordinator for the Education Writers Association in Washington, D.C.

Leezel Tanglao

Leezel Tanglao (Summer 2003) is overnight home page editor for ABCNews.com in New York City. Previously she was online news producer for KCBS2/KCAL9 in Los Angeles. She started her new job this month, immediately after co-chairing the Asian American Journalists Association convention in Los Angeles and attending a Poynter Institute seminar, “Bottom Line News: Creating Sustainable Journalism Start-ups,” in July.

Annette Arreola (Spring 2004) is action news reporter for KTNV (ABC News) in Las Vegas.

Sonia Dasgupta

Sonia Dasgupta (Summer 2007) is a local editor with Patch.com in the Washington, D.C., area. As the editor for Riverdale Park and University Park, Md., she reports news, generates story ideas and works with freelancers and columnists. Dasgupta graduated this summer from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism with a master’s degree in digital media.

James Wagner (Summer 2007) is a reporter for The Washington Post, covering high school sports. He says, “It’s a wonderful opportunity to cover the expanse of high school athletics in the D.C. area and search for interesting, compelling stories. I’m very excited and grateful.” Previously he was a reporter for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune in California.

Brian Slodysko (Summer 2008), is a Tribune company reporter assigned to cover the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove as part of the company’s “hyper-local” effort to be launched soon. He says, “While many of the details are still being ironed out, basically the Tribune is shifting control of their suburban papers — previously independent operations — to their metro desk.” Previously he was a freelancer for SeattlePi.com, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s online-only replacement, and for SeattleCrime.com.

Adolfo Flores

Adolfo Flores (Summer 2009) is a reporter for Pasadena (Calif.) Star-News, covering cops and government for San Marino, San Gabriel, South Pasadena and Alhambra. Flores graduated in May with a journalism degree and minor in Spanish-language media from California State University, Northridge.

Nicole Norfleet (Spring 2010) is a reporter for the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, covering suburban metro news in a two-year apprenticeship position. Previously she was an intern for The Associated Press in Raleigh, N.C.

Marie DeJesus

Marie DeJesus (Summer 2010) is a photographer for Victoria (Texas) Advocate. She was a summer intern at the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle.

Internships:

Ricardo Lopez (Summer 2008) is a summer intern at the Saint Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota.

Convention News and Awards:

Chipsters took home several awards at the 2010 Native American Journalists Association’s Media Awards ceremony during NAJA’s convention in St. Paul, Minn., in July. They are:

Best Editorial Category

• 3rd Place: Tara Manthey (Summer 2000), former editorial board member, Osage News, “Time is of the Essence”

Best Feature Story Categories

• Daily/Weekly: 3rd Place, Jason Begay (Fall 1999 and Summer 2000), reporter, Navajo Times, “Teaching Thick Fingers to Weave”
• Monthly/Bimonthly: 3rd Place, Dana Attocknie (Spring 2004), editor, Cherokee & Arapaho Tribal Tribune, “Living Legends: Katherine Hoffman”

Best News Story Categories

• Daily/Weekly: 3rd Place, Jason Begay, reporter, Navajo Times, “Study Dissects How, Where Tribe Went Wrong with OnSat”
• Monthly/Bimonthly: 2nd Place, Shannon Shaw (Spring 2005), interim editor, Osage News, “Chief Jim Gray Sues Six Members of Congress for Controversial Meeting”

Best Online Category

• Writing (News or Feature): 1st Place, Shannon Shaw, interim editor, Osage News, “Five Members of Congress Meet Behind Locked Doors to Discuss Budgetary Cuts”
• 2nd Place, Benny Polacca (Spring 2006), staff writer, Osage News, “Tribal Members Write Messages on Their Cars to ‘Pass the Budget!’ “

Best Photo Categories

• News: 2nd Place, Leigh T. Jimmie (Summer 2002), photographer, Navajo Times, “Ramp Riders”
• Feature: 1st Place Leigh T. Jimmie, photographer, Navajo Times, “Nature’s Bounty”
• Sports: 3rd Place Leigh T. Jimmie, photographer, Navajo Times, “First Jump”

Best Sports Story Categories

• Daily/Weekly: 1st Place, Sunnie Redhouse (Summer 2006), sports writer, Navajo Times, “Alone on the Course; April 23 Issue”

Best Television Story Categories

• News: 3rd Place, William Craig Henry (Spring 2007), multimedia producer, Cherokee Phoenix, “Red Clay Reunites Cherokees”
• Feature: 1st Place, William Craig Henry, multimedia producer, Cherokee Phoenix, “Cherokee Girl Well-Trained in ‘Sweet Science’ “

College Student Categories

• Online News Site: 1st Place, Tetona Dunlap (Spring 2005), Student, “SOZO Movement”

General Excellence Categories

• Monthly/Bimonthly: 2nd Place, Osage News - Shannon Shaw, interim editor
• Website: 1st Place, Cherokee Phoenix - www.cherokeephoenix.org - William Craig Henry, multimedia producer

Lianne Milton

While at the Asian American Journalists Association in Los Angeles in August, Lianne Milton (Spring 2003) was awarded AAJA’s 2010 National Journalism Awards for Photography for her project on post-tsunami recovery in Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

Chipsters attending AAJA served as panelists, speakers and mentors. They included Wasim Ahmad (Summer 2003), assistant professor, school of journalism, Stonybrook University; Meena Thiruvengadam (Summer 2003), business reporter, Dow Jones Newswires; and Leezel Tanglao (Summer 2003). Marian Liu (Spring 2001), reporter for The Seattle Times, was the 2010 convention news project director, while professional mentors included Adam Kealoha Causey (Spring 2006), reporter, The Times in Shreveport, La., and Mariecar Mendoza (Spring 2007), reporter, The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif.

Diego James Robles (Summer 2008), photographer for The Denver Post, won second place in the Hearst Foundation photo championship in New York City. He says, “I originally won first place in Sports/News category to make the championship shootout.” Also, Robles was accepted at the Eddie Adams Workshop in New York.

Fellowships

Yun Long

Yun Long (Summer 2005), copy editor for the Reno Gazette-Journal, attended the Maynard Institute Multimedia Editing Program at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Other News:

Kristopher Brooks (Summer 2006) is pursuing a master’s degree in literary journalism at New York University. Previously he was a reporter for the Omaha World-Herald.

Vannah Shaw (Summer 2007) is pursuing a law degree at Regent University in Portsmouth, Va.

Kelly McLain (Summer 2008) graduated in May with a master’s degree in English from the University of Alaska.

Ashley Marchand (Spring 2010) is a staff writer for the Advisory Board Company in Washington, D.C., for Health Line Group publications. Previously she was an intern at The Chronicle of Higher Education in Washington, D.C.

Babies…

The Fregeau family, (from left) John, Lee and Grace.

Grace Uy Fregeau (Summer 1998) and husband John welcomed their first child, son Lee, in November 2009 in Santa Barbara, Calif. The family moved this month to the Washington, D.C., area for John’s work. She says, “I’m heading into my third year of full-time freelance/contract writing and editing and am continuing to build my client list.”

Keep your news coming. Send updates to Michelle Hedenskoog.

Denver, Colo.

Chipsters in the Mile High City. From left, Diego James Robles (Summer 2008), photographer; Virginia Singarayar (Summer 2010), intern; and Sheba R. Wheeler (Summer 1995), reporter. The photo was taken on the balcony of the 6th-floor newsroom of The Denver Post. (Photo by Ken Lyons, senior photo editor/The Denver Post)

Mt. Fuji, Japan

Tammy Krikorian Gabel (Summer 2004) during sunrise at the summit of Mt. Fuji in late July. Gabel is pursuing an interactive environmental journalism master’s program at the University of Nevada, Reno while working part time as a multimedia reporter at the Reno Gazette-Journal. She says, “We reached the top about 3:30 a.m., had breakfast and watched the sun rise before heading back down.” Gabel and a friend traveled to Japan to visit another friend living in Okinawa.

Los Angeles, Calif.

Chipsters at the Asian American Journalists Association’s 2010 convention in Los Angeles. Men, from left: Bao Ong (Spring 2005), Wasim Ahmad (Summer 2003), Adam Causey (Spring 2006), Michael Schennum (Summer 2004) and Ankur Dholakia (Summer 2002). Women, from left: Michelle Lee (Summer 2002), Leezel Tanglao (Summer 2003), Meena Thiruvengadam (Summer 2003), Emma Carew (Summer 2009), Mariecar Mendoza (Spring 2007), Carolyn Chin (Summer 2009) and Rachana Rathi (Summer 2003). Tanglao was co-chair of this year’s convention and Dholakia will be next year’s co-chair in Detroit, Mich.

Washington, D.C.

Chipsters from the Summer 2010 class meet for a lovely dinner in Washington, D.C. From left: Kelly Truong, intern, The Chronicle of Higher Education; Shannon Epps, intern, The Washington Post; Ileana Morales, intern, The Associated Press; and Sophia Li, intern, The Chronicle of Higher Education. Says Morales, “We took a picture with the name of the restaurant because we just about died laughing over a joke on mispronouncing this French word.”

Washington, D.C.

CQS Program Director Karen Catone stops by the offices of The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Chronicle of Philanthropy in Washington, D.C. From left: Richard White (Spring 2010), Emma Carew (Summer 2009), Catone, Sophia Li (Summer 2010) and Kelly Truong (Summer 2010). All are interns for the publications except for Carew, who is a former editorial assistant. She has since moved to Minneapolis and is a reporter for the Star Tribune.

St. Paul, Minn.

Chipsters attending the Native American Journalists Association’s 2010 convention in St. Paul, Minn. Clockwise from back left: Craig Henry (Spring 2007), Tetona Dunlap (Spring 2005), Jordan Dresser (Summer 2006), Benny Polacca (Spring 2006), Princella Parker (Summer 2008), Mary Hudetz (Summer 2007), Molly Young (Summer 2010), Leigh Jimmie (Summer 2002), Lora Pabst (Summer 2005), Nancy Kelsey (Summer 2003) and Dana Attocknie (Spring 2004). (Photo by Janine Harris)

Mumbai, India (07/28/10)

Kainaz Amaria (Summer 2007) is a Fulbright scholar and photojournalist based in Mumbai, India, where she has been documenting the dwindling Parsi community. The Parsis of India practice Zoroastrianism, a 3,500-year-old monotheistic Persian religion, and have created a distinct identity through their customs and religious rites. For more photos, visit kainazamaria.com.


Washington, D.C. (06/19/10)

Chipsters working in Washington, D.C., this summer share a meal at Busboys and Poets restaurant in the city’s Chinatown area. From left: Ileana Morales (Summer 2010), intern, The Associated Press; Emma Carew (Summer 2009), editorial assistant, Chronicle for Higher Education; Phillip Lucas (Summer 2010) intern, The Washington Post; Meena Thiruvengadam (Summer 2003), reporter, Dow Jones News Wire; and Rick Rojas (Summer 2008), intern, The Washington Post. Carew has since moved back to her hometown of Minneapolis, working as a reporter for the Star Tribune.

Guatemala (06/24/10)

Kara Andrade (Spring 2005) is a Fulbright fellow based in Guatemala, where she is implementing a citizen journalism website called HablaGuate. She is now coordinating HablaGuate, HablaHonduras, HablaVenezuela, HablaElSalvador, HablaCostaRica, which are collaborative citizen journalism projects that enable contributors to post information from their cellphones to a regional website that also aggregates other blogs and citizen media sites related to the countries. A blogger network will be created within each country to comment on events and news and work with local editors.


Minneapolis, Minn. (06/05/10)

Chipsters converge on Minneapolis on June 5 to celebrate the wedding of Nancy Yang (Spring 2003) and Branden Peterson. They are (from left) Bao Ong (Spring 2005), Leezel Tanglao (Summer 2003), Jodie Lau (Summer 2002), bride Nancy Yang, Emma Carew (Summer 2009), Meena Thiruvengadam (Summer 2003) and Shruti Mathur Desai (Summer 2002).

Washington, D.C. (05/11/10)

Three generations of Jensens at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. Sean Jensen (Summer 1996), Chicago Bears/NFL writer and columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times (right) with dad Paul and son Elijah Paul.

Seoul, South Korea (05/11/10)

Chipster Meena Thiruvengadam (Summer 2003), reporter for Dow Jones News Wire in Washington, D.C., poses for photos in Seoul, South Korea. Meena was awarded an East-West Center Korea/U.S. Journalists Exchange fellowship. Left photo was taken at Seoul World Trade Center. Photo at right shows a Meena-size car at a Korean research institute.

Soyapango, El Salvador (05/04/10)

Rhina Guidos (Summer 1998), social network editor/niche products for The News Journal in Wilmington, Del., at a sugarcane farm in El Salvador. Rhina visits the country each spring at Easter, staying in Soyapango, the second largest city in the country. She says, “My favorite pastime is to visit out-of-the-way places, like this sugarcane operation on the side of the road, where workers make less than $5 a day for their hard labor.” Watch her video of farm workers making candies, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBL6SZgpJ-k.

Crazy Horse Memorial, S.D. (04/22/10)

Twelve Chipsters served as editors or mentors during the Crazy Horse Journalism Workshop at the Crazy Horse Memorial near Custer, S.D., April 19-23. They are back row (from left): Justin Hayworth (Summer 2000), Kevin Abourezk (Summer 1999), Katie Oyan (Summer 1997 and Spring 2000), Sarah Welliver (Summer 2007), Vonnie Majors (Spring 2002), Jomay Steen (Summer 1997); second row: Charles Pulliam (Summer 2008), Devin Wagner (Spring 2008), Princella Parker (Summer 2008), Dalton Walker (Summer 2005); and front row: Russel Daniels (Summer 2008) and April Gregory (Spring 2009). (Photo by Pat Dobbs/Crazy Horse Memorial)

Belleville, Illinois (04/05/10)

Spring 2008 Chipsters Rickeena Richards (left) and Jacqueline Lee at the Belleville (Illinois) News-Democrat, where Rickeena is an education reporter and Jacqueline, a night cops reporter. The paper covers southwestern Illinois and the St. Louis region.

Shijiazhuang, China (03/24/10)

Chipster Yesenia Mojarro (Spring 2005) watches a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China in October 2009. “Chinese flags hung outside almost every home and business during this celebration,” she said. Yesenia teaches English at Hebei University of Economics and English in Shijiazhuang, China.

Seattle, Wash. (03/15/10)

Chipsters at The Seattle Times. From left: Summer 2006 alums Stephanie Clary, Joe Ruiz, Sona Patel and Michelle Ma. Stephanie and Joe are associate producers; Sona, a social media producer; and Michelle, a resident producer for seattletimes.com. (Photo by Genevieve Alvarez/seattletimes.com)

Vallejo, Calif. (03/5/10)

From left: Chipsters Shauntel Lowe (Summer 2008), Lanz Christian Bańes (Spring 2009) and Jose San Mateo (Summer 2008) stand near the waterfront in Vallejo, Calif. The three alums work together at the Times-Herald in Vallejo. Shauntel is the K-12 education and health reporter, Lanz is the crime and diversity reporter and Jose is a sports reporter and paginator. The Chipsters have launched the Times-Herald’s multimedia and social media presence. “We had a pretty rough start, but Chipsters are an annoyingly persistent bunch, aren’t we?” Lanz said.

Washington, D.C. (02/17/10)

Chipsters working at The Chronicle of Higher Education or The Chronicle of Philanthropy in Washington, D.C. From left: Richard White (Spring 2010), Emma Carew (Summer 2009), Ashley Marchand (Spring 2010) and Simmi Aujla (Summer 2008). All are or were interns except Carew, who is an editorial assistant. Aujla now is at The Associated Press in Boise, Idaho.

Tucson, Ariz. (02/02/10)

Chipsters at the banquet for The New York Times Student Journalism Institute in Tucson, Ariz., in January. From left: Derrick Henry (Summer 1997), Veronica Cruz (Spring 2010), Dalina Castellanos (Spring 2009), Diego James Robles (Summer 2008), Elvia Malagon (Spring 2010) and Jamie Lee Klein. Henry, a senior Web news producer for The New York Times, served as an instructor.

Boston, Mass. (01/06/10)

Chipsters Zuri Berry (Summer 2006), left, and Greg Lee (Summer 1995) at The Boston Globe newsroom. Zuri is sports producer at Boston.com, the Globe’s Web site, and Greg is senior assistant sports editor for the paper.

China (12/14/09)

Chipsters (from left) Jenny Poon Domingo (Spring 2004), Marianne Refuerzo Herricht (Summer 2005) and Odeen Domingo (Spring 2004) at the Great Wall in China. Marianne says, “We visited Shanghai and Beijing on a 10-day tour from December 4-14. Jenny had previously been, but it was the first time for me and Odeen. I really enjoyed seeing all the historic sites and eating the local food.” Jenny is a freelance graphic designer, Marianne is an enrollment specialist for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona and Odeen is a sports reporter for The Arizona Republic in Phoenix.

Barcelona, Spain (11/13/09)

Chipsters Aaron Morrison (Summer 2008) and Talia Buford (Summer 2004) at The Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Morrison, a freelance writer living in New York City, and Buford, a reporter for The Providence Journal in Rhode Island, met in 2006 at a National Association of Black Journalists convention. He says, “We’ve been friends ever since. We also wrote a blog together with our friends, Ten95, until earlier this year. Spain happened when a few of us decided to make the trip a ‘family’ affair. Seven journalists in Spain equaled great, hilarious fun.”

Washington, D.C. (10/22/09)
Chipster Vanessa Casavant (Spring 2006) with CQS Program Director Karen Catone at the Freedom Forum office in Washington, D.C. Casavant is a Seattle-based content strategist/writer for electronic media with AdoptUsKids. “It is a group of several nonprofits around the country specializing in adoption and foster care services,” she says. “I’m leading the overhaul of the Web site and launching the collaboration’s new social media campaign.” She was in the nation’s capital for a conference.

Washington, D.C. (9/25/09)

Chipster Ryan Hiraki (Summer 2001 and Spring 2002), visits CQS co-founder John C. Quinn (left) and Program Director Karen Catone at the Freedom Forum office in Washington, D.C. Hiraki is enrolled at George Washington University’s graduate school of political management. He says, “It’s supposed to help prepare me for a career working on Capitol Hill or in the private sector, but it leans more toward public policy.”

Boston, Mass. (8/15/09)

Chipsters at the Asian American Journalists Association convention in Boston this month. Clockwise from left: Michelle Lee (Summer 2002), Adam Causey (Spring 2006), Leezel Tanglao (Summer 2003), Emma Carew (Summer 2009), Sophia Tareen (Summer 2003), Derek Sijder (Summer 2009), Daniel Sato (Summer 2007), Katie Nelson (Summer 2001), Carolyn Chin (Summer 2009), Nancy Yang (Spring 2003) and Meena Thiruvengadam (Summer 2003). Causey, Sijder, Sato, Nelson and Chin worked at the convention news project Voices.

Nashville, Tenn. (8/11/09)

Chips Quinn alums attend the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute Multimedia Boot Camp for Journalism Professionals and Educators in Nashville, Tenn. From left: Jillian Ogawa (Summer 2004), Richard Koonce (Summer 1991), Danese Kenon (Fall 2000) and Mauro Diaz (Summer 1997). Kenon, a multimedia journalist at The Indianapolis Star, served as an instructor at the boot camp.

Washington, D.C. (8/05/09)

CQS co-founder John C. Quinn with Scholars (from left): Rick Rojas (Summer 2008), Emma Carew (Summer 2009), Ally Smith (Summer 2007), Chloe Thompson (Summer 2008) and Andrew Villegas (Spring 2008) at The Capital Grille in Washington, D.C. Rojas and Carew are interns at The Washington Post; Smith is an intern for The First Amendment Center; Thompson recently graduated from the University of Rhode Island; and Villegas is Web producer/reporter for Kaiser Health News.

Washington, D.C. (7/30/09)

Summer 2009 Scholars (from left): Emma Carew, Adolfo Flores and Andrea Vasquez outside of Chinatown Express in Washington, D.C. Carew is a business intern at The Washington Post; Flores is at the The Dispatch in Lexington, N.C.; and Vasquez, at The Vicksburg (Miss.) Post.

Hartford, Conn. (7/16/09)

From left: Everton Bailey (Summer 2009), Colleen Fitzpatrick (CQS career coach) and Bettina Hansen (Spring 2009) at Monte Alban restaurant in Hartford, Conn. Bailey and Hansen met last week while on assignment covering a hostage situation in South Windsor, Conn. Bailey is an intern at The Associated Press-Hartford; Hansen is a photography intern at The Hartford (Conn.) Courant.

Manhattan Beach, Calif. (6/17/09)

From left: Jeannette Ceja (Summer 2008), Carley Dryden (Summer 2008), James Wagner (Summer 2007) and Lorinda Toledo (Summer 2008) at the Manhattan Beach pier. Ceja is attending a summer professional program for film and television production at UCLA; Dryden, Manhattan Beach news editor for Easy Reader, a weekly publication; Wagner, a reporter for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune; and Toledo, a freelance writer in Los Angeles.

New York, N.Y. (4/27/09)

Donna Lee (Summer 2007) interviews Victoria Oluwole, 11, and Olujimi Oluwole, 8, while they fish with their father on a Sunday in Staten Island.

Lee is a master’s degree candidate at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City. Her most recent editorial internship was at Capital Public Radio, Sacramento’s NPR station. There she was an associate producer for the local news/interview program, “Insight.” She also has been an intern at the Statesman Journal in Salem, Ore., as a Chips Quinn Scholar, and the Sacramento News & Review, an alternative weekly. Lee expects to graduate in May.

To visit this feature’s photo archives, please go to http://www.chipsquinn.org/news/chipsnews/chips_news.aspx?id=623.

]]> http://freedomforumdiversity.org/chips-quinn/2010/08/23/where-in-the-world-are-our-chipsters/feed/ http://freedomforumdiversity.org/chips-quinn/2010/08/19/a-homecoming/ http://freedomforumdiversity.org/chips-quinn/2010/08/19/a-homecoming/#comments Thu, 19 Aug 2010 23:10:43 +0000 michelle http://freedomforumdiversity.org/chips-quinn/?p=3690 By Meena Thiruvengadam, CQS ‘03

We came by train, bus and car, and a Chips Quinn tote bag hanging from a mailbox in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., told us we were home.

More than a dozen Chipsters spanning the years gathered at Chips Quinn Scholars Program Director Karen Catone’s home in Reston, Va., last Saturday to connect or reconnect with one another, reminisce about internships gone by and to help one another plot paths through journalism’s uncertain future.

(Photos courtesy of Rhina Guidos, Rick Rojas and Richard White)

“With the way the economy has been the past few years, the uncertainty related to finding a job has been pretty high for me,” said Richard White, a Spring 2010 Scholar who is now an intern at The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Being part of the program has helped to alleviate his worries, he said, adding, “The Chipster network is so big, you never know when or where your next opportunity will come from.”

He’s right. In the seven years since I completed my Chips Quinn internship in 2003, I’ve found that some of the best job leads, career advice and skills coaching I have ever received have come from my Chips Quinn network. I still look to my Chips Quinn mentors when researching career transitions, finding my footing in a new beat or working to improve my writing. In a world where staffs are shrinking and time is becoming ever more precious, Chipsters are stepping in to fill the void left in many newsrooms.

From the turnout at Karen’s house, it is clear that that legacy will continue.

Just consider how far one Chipster traveled to attend the reunion in the nation’s capital and how hard he’s working to encourage his Chipster family.

Ronald Clark (Summer 2007), a sports reporter at The Record in Hackensack, N.J., made the long drive from New Jersey and, when he wasn’t busy making the rest of us laugh, congratulated the recent graduates on their achievements.

“Congratulations,” he said many times that night. “People just don’t say that enough.”


Meena Thiruvengadam is a business reporter for Dow Jones Newswire in Washington, D.C. She was a Summer 2003 Scholar at The Salt Lake Tribune in Salt Lake City.

by Ashley Marchand (CQS ‘10)

One day in late January 2010, I sat talking with John C. Quinn in his office at the Freedom Forum’s Diversity Institute at the John Seigenthaler Center in Nashville. It was cold outside, but inside, the atmosphere was made warm by the measured voice of the man who, with his late wife Loie, founded the Chips Quinn Scholars program after their son John C. “Chips” Quinn Jr. died in a 1990 car accident. Chips, 34, had been managing editor of the Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) Journal at the time of his death.

John Quinn and I concluded our interview two months later in my internship city, Washington, D.C., during a dinner with several other Chips Quinn Scholars and Program Director Karen Catone. Here are his stories and insights.

Q: Tell me again how the Chips Quinn Scholars program got started.

A: In Poughkeepsie Chips had inherited an all-white newsroom in a community with diverse readers and diverse news needs. The newsroom was mostly male, two women. One problem he faced was finding a network of diverse young journalists. So he and I worked together. He managed to bring some diversity into the staff. When the community was rocked by a major racial conflict, he took the lead effort in trying to have the newspaper report everybody’s say, give everybody’s perspective. Out of that, a very dangerous community explosion was diffused. He was given posthumously the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medals Award for responsible community leadership.

The morning after the tragedy, Loie and I wanted to think of something for Chips’ memorial. We sat on the porch watching the sun come up and we came to the same conclusion: What can we do to help his search for a network of young journalists who bring diversity to the prospective news company?

Q: Do any moments stand out that define why you started this program?

A: In the class of 1994, a young African-American from the West attended orientation in Washington, D.C. He was a junior in college, working on the student newspaper. The second night of the program, he sat next to Loie. She asked him why he was interested in journalism. He said he got interested in college, but also still loved playing music. He was torn between where he wanted to spend his life. She had a good visit with him. That night at home she said, “We’ve got to keep him in journalism.” I don’t know whether it was because of us or not, but he finished college and went to his hometown newspaper where he interned. Now he’s the top editor, running the paper. That’s the kind of effort we’re all looking for.

Q: Are the Scholars like a family that just keeps expanding?

A: Yes. If we can instill a sense of familial friendship that will encourage them, comfort them in bad times, applaud them in good times, then they will know they have someone (and) never walk alone.

Q: How did you get into the newspaper business?

A: I was the oldest male in the family. Circumstances said I had to get a job. I was 17 and on my way to a great career as a racetrack bookie. It just happened that the spring break at Providence College matched the spring meet at the racetrack. Ten of us were sent out by the good Father Gallagher to the racetrack for 10 days of jobs at $10 a day. That was a lot of money in 1943. My nine classmates were hired and I was not. Those days, I walked with a cane. I was pretty depressed and desperate.

On my way home, I stopped to see my former high school counselor. I said, “I need a job where I can go to school during the day and work at night.” She called a contact at the Providence (R.I.) Journal-Bulletin and sent me down for an interview. A wonderful gentleman at the paper who became a great friend of mine sent me to the newsroom to talk to the editors.

When I got home from the interview, my mother said, “Call the Journal back.” Somebody – a copy boy – had been called up by the military and the paper needed somebody starting Sunday night. On Easter Sunday night, 1943, I started as a copy boy.

My grandmother thought it was terrible because, besides the fact that I wasn’t going to become a priest, a) anybody who worked at night couldn’t have a very respectable job, and b) anyone who worked on a Sunday night probably skipped going to Mass, and c) anyone who worked at night on an Easter Sunday was going to go straight to hell. I stayed at the paper for 23 years.

Q: What was it like in the early days of USA Today?

A: At USA Today, we didn’t want the big-timers. We wanted the young people who were writing for papers across the country. We found temporary housing for these young people. The deal was that they would stay for six months, and if USA Today survived, the y would be invited to stay. If it failed, we guaranteed them another job. It was a rough life.

Q: What was the approach to covering news?

A: The whole trick of USA Today was to have the news presentation on page one be forward-looking. We didn’t emphasize what happened yesterday. We were looking at what’s next. So our reporters, at the end of a presidential press conference, would write about the conference. But their main story would be about what did it mean tomorrow. That was the great challenge and satisfaction of editing USA Today.

John C. Quinn and Ashley Marchand (Photo by Rhina Guidos, CQS 2000).

Q: What’s the most fun you’ve had covering a story?

A: There was a bad tenement fire in a residential area of Providence. A young woman and her two kids had been driven out of their apartment. The morning paper had the straight fire story. The day city editor said, “There’s gotta be a better story about this family driven to the street in the middle of the night. See what you can get.” I wrote a story that was stripped across page one. My lead was “Tommy Smith didn’t go to school today.” Next paragraph: “Last night, his family, mother and siblings, were driven out on the street by the fire and he forgot to bring his shoes.” He stayed home because he had no shoes.

The publisher said, “Give Quinn an expense account and tell him to go buy that kid shoes.” That was great, and I did. Fun stories for me are the ones that achieve something. Getting a scoop is fine and is part of a career, but the real satisfaction comes from doing something for the readers or for the people in my story.

Q: Toughest story to cover?

A: I was assigned to cover the problems with the new owners of the New Haven Railroad in Providence. I rode trains, Providence into Boston and New York, talked to passengers, waiters, conductors, even the maintenance department. It was a tough story to write because the railroad president was a nice guy and he meant well. I wrote a five-part series.

Ten days later, that man resigned. The night managing editor called me and said, “You gotta come down here and write this story.” I started to write the story and froze. The editor said, “Look kid, the clock is ticking. I’ve gotta have this story. I’ve gotta have a lead.” I said, “I don’t know where to start.” He said, “What’s the key point that comes into your mind right now that you would say to your friend at a bar?” I said, “Well, I’d say that he was a great financier, but he couldn’t run a railroad.” He said, “You dumb son of a b—-. That’s the lead.”

Q: What would you say to young journalists who love the field but may be discouraged by the tumultuous state of newspapers?

A: Stay the course. Newspapers may be cutting back, adjusting, but journalism is here to stay. I will say that I’m glad I did my newspaper career when I did.

Ashley Marchand is a staff writer for the Advisory Board Company in Washington, D.C. She was a Spring 2010 Chips Quinn Scholar for The Chronicle of Higher Education in Washington, D.C. A Spanish and mass communications graduate of Houston Baptist University, Marchand was assistant religion editor, assistant managing editor, editor in chief and student adviser for The Collegian, her school newspaper. She was an intern/stringer for the southwest bureau of The New York Times (summer 2008). Marchand taught journalism to students as part of an after-school program at Sharpstown Middle School in Houston (spring 2009). She was inducted as a member into Omicron Delta Kappa, a national leadership honor society, and became vice president of Alpha Mu Gamma, a foreign language honor society.

]]> http://freedomforumdiversity.org/chips-quinn/2010/08/05/qa-cqs-co-founder-john-c-quinn/feed/ http://freedomforumdiversity.org/chips-quinn/2010/08/02/looking-backdue-before-your-internship-ends/ http://freedomforumdiversity.org/chips-quinn/2010/08/02/looking-backdue-before-your-internship-ends/#comments Mon, 02 Aug 2010 12:25:59 +0000 colleen http://freedomforumdiversity.org/chips-quinn/?p=3639 My dear Scholars,

This will be our final blog post (though my e-mails to you will continue for several more weeks) and it’s a really important one, so please make the time to answer.

What do you know now that you wish you’d known going into your CQS internship (or your current job)?

Many thanks,

Coach Col

Please share part of a story you’ve written or read that illustrates the idea of showing the reader information, not telling him/her.

Here’s my example from a story I wrote long ago for The Providence Journal (as near as I can remember it). The lead, something like:

“The town councilman and the aging widow had a deal: He would see to it that she never had to go into a nursing home; she would remember him in her will.

“So it was that (Town Councilman) seven years ago began taking supper each night to (Old Woman) in her rambling house on Sunderland Road. After she broke her hip for the second time, TC and his wife moved OW from the crumbling mansion, which lacks electricity and plumbing, into their rented house.

“TC did her banking. He oversaw her medical care. He washed her hair. He emptied her bedpan. He sat at her bedside and held her hand. And he fed her. He demonstrates by picking up a spoon and shaking it gently. “Fifty-four of them is in a bowl,” he says. “Fifty-four times to her mouth….”

Readers, I ask you: What about a man who counts the number of spoonfuls in a bowl of soup as he feeds this woman? How does he regard his task? Is he enjoying feeding her? Resenting it? Or….? You decide. As the writer, I haven’t told you how he feels about this – rather, through the use of his words and actions, I’ve shown you. You can decide whether he cared for the woman out of genuine concern and affection, or perhaps out of the hope of standing to gain by inheriting her substantial estate. (Or, as you read on, maybe some of both.)

Allowing readers to interpret the councilman’s motivation however they will makes for a more engaging, nuanced, richer and accurate story.

Your examples — or questions?

Colleen

I believe there are as many ways of organizing a story as there are writers, as I said in my e-mail to you.  Story org. can be a tricky thing to master, and there’s some subjectivity in it, as I’m sure you’ve learned during sessions with your editor.

When you sit down to write, how do you organize your information? How do you decide what info to put at the top of your story, what to put at the bottom? How do you decide what to include and what to leave out?

Please share a tip or approach to organizing your stories that works for you.  (And if you have different approaches based on the type of story – hard news, enterprise, feature, video, audio, photo, etc. – please let us know which one you’re talking about.)

And for Tiffany, our lone copy editor/designer in our group, please describe the scope of your copy-editing duties and how you go about them and any interactions you have with reporters.

Thanks – due  Sunday,

Colleen

John C. Quinn thought his birthday would be an appropriate occasion to reprint a copy of the last memo Chips wrote to his staff while editor of the Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) Journal — and to remind Chips Quinn Scholars everywhere that his spirit lives on in you.

“Each day we must publish a newspaper that makes us proud, but not so proud that we forget that it is not our newspaper, but our readers’.

“To accomplish that, we must:
• Be fresh.
• Be informative.
• Be inviting.
• Be accurate and fair.
• Be appetizing.
• Be clear.
• Be imaginative.
• Be unselfish.

“Care. Care. Care. Take it and show it.”

I rented an apartment in this building within walking distance of downtown Bend, Ore. It had a living room, kitchen area, two bathrooms and a king-size bed with more pillows than I needed. I felt at home.

I met a lot of transplants from Hawaii in Bend and even found two Hawaiian restaurants, which helped ease my homesickness. The ultimate comfort food was a Hawaiian plate lunch, which included teriyaki chicken, white rice and macaroni salad.

The news department occupies The Bulletin’s upper level, where I spent most of my time. The circulation and advertising departments are housed on the lower level. The printing press is in a building next door.

A Chips Quinn mouse pad greeted me at work each day. It was there when I arrived in February. Initially I relied on my audio recorder to capture quotes but soon was filling my yellow notepad with meticulous notes, which helped improve my writing.

Early in my internship, I started a list of “lessons learned” and added to it as the days passed. My first lesson: “Don’t panic.” Another important one: “Get people to spell their first and last name.”

The Bulletin covers a lot of ground as the major daily newspaper in Central Oregon. The area is gorgeous with snow-capped mountains, evergreens, deserts and rivers. I spent a lot of time on this stretch of road, U.S. Highway 97, which took me north to Redmond, Terrebonne and Madras, and south to Sunriver and La Pine.

Assigned to cover the weekly education feature (“ed feech”) for the Wednesday paper, I worked hard to include some of the more distant schools that weren’t routinely covered. I enjoyed these assignments. The challenge was getting the elementary and middle school students to respond to my questions with more than the typical “It was cool” or “I liked it.”

My 12 weeks on the city desk were followed by 12 more as a multimedia producer for the Web desk. It was an awesome opportunity to attend new events, including a rodeo, dog show and national moustache and beard competition. I produced a video story about my ride in a hot-air balloon during the Balloons Over Bend festival. The scariest part was signing my life away on a release form that included the words “death” and “injury.” But our balloon pilot got us back safely.

__

Diane Lee (Spring 2010) is a multimedia intern for The Bulletin in Bend, Ore., where she was a Chips Quinn Scholar reporter intern for 12 weeks in the spring. Lee has a B.A. in communication with a concentration in journalism from Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., and an A.A. in liberal arts from Kapiolani Community College. Lee got her start as a contributing writer for her community-college newspaper, The Kapio Newspress, then became staff writer and later associate editor. She blogged about her experience transitioning from a two-year college to four-year university for ACT, Inc., the education organization known for its college-admission tests. She has held internships at the Honolulu Advertiser, WCBU Public Radio in Peoria, and NPR’s “Morning Edition” in Washington, D.C.

]]> http://freedomforumdiversity.org/chips-quinn/2010/07/13/internship-in-photos-bend-ore/feed/ http://freedomforumdiversity.org/chips-quinn/2010/07/13/getting-the-lead-outdue-july-18/ http://freedomforumdiversity.org/chips-quinn/2010/07/13/getting-the-lead-outdue-july-18/#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:48:02 +0000 colleen http://freedomforumdiversity.org/chips-quinn/?p=3526 Heyyy Chipsters!

Let’s talk a bit about the mechanics of writing, starting with that all-important lede. Please share one of your favorite leads, and tell us why you like it.

(Photogs and copy editors, please share a lead you’ve read that you like and tell us why.)

Extra points for telling us why journalists sometimes refer to the lead as lede.

Looking for your answers by Sunday. Many thanks and carry on!

Coach Col

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