Members of DePauw student media took a bite out of the Big Apple last month on a trip to the College Media Association’s spring national convention. From March 4 to 7, five of my peers and I — Eliana Alzate ‘26, Meredith Joncha ‘26, Nargis Kachrumathur ‘27, Amy Ortiz Guarneros ‘27 and Ira Satpathy ‘28 — attended workshops, met with alumni in the media industry and even participated in a taping of “The Tamron Hall Show.” Leading the charge was Media Fellows academic director and faculty adviser to The DePauw, Renee Thomas-Woods Ph.D.
The main focus of our trip was the conference workshops, which illuminated a variety of topics and their impact on student newsrooms, including First Amendment rights, brand strategy and editorial leadership. One workshop that I found particularly enlightening was Immigration Law 101, led by Dominic Coletti of the FIRE Student Press Freedom Initiative, where I heard firsthand from fellow student journalists from around the nation how increasingly restrictive immigration policies have influenced editorial decision-making in student newsrooms.
Between workshops, we also made time in our schedules to meet several DePauw alumni with established careers at major media outlets. At The Wall Street Journal, we had lunch with Ellen Kobe ‘13, Brandon Sokol ‘04 and Aaron Lucchetti ‘96, who brought insight on current media issues like corporate mergers, artificial intelligence and media bias. Then, we sat down with James Stewart ‘73 of The New York Times and Jon Fortt ‘98 of CNBC — both former editors-in-chief of The DePauw — to reminisce and discuss the evolution of their careers and how they’ve navigated ethical decision-making as the media landscape shifts.
A media-themed adventure in New York wouldn’t be complete without a chance to attend a talk show taping at one of the city’s many network studios. During an excitingly fast-paced morning at ABC Studios, we watched journalist Tamron Hall show her media personality as she interviewed rising artists for her “Up-and-Coming Designer Series.” I was impressed by how well members of the production team kept the audience engaged while working quickly and collaboratively to propel the show.
Even more than the experiences and insights we brought back home to Greencastle, The DePauw won six national divisional Apple Awards: Best Crisis Coverage (Harley Dang ‘27), Best Social Media Coverage of a Single Event (staff), second place for Best Newspaper (staff), second place for Best Editorial (staff), second place for Best Opinion Column (myself) and third place for Best Newsletter (Eliana Alzate ‘26). Personally, I couldn’t be more inspired by my teammates’ dedication — not just during our journey to New York, but in the newsroom every day. If this trip was a reminder of how much there is to learn about media, each day in the newsroom is a testament to how we strive to set an example for journalists around the nation.
