News & Events
New York Networking
By Stephanie Miedema ’07
Nearly sixty Mount Holyoke alumnae journalists, TV producers, writers, and editors gathered on Monday, January 29 for the first-ever networking reception for New York alumnae in the communications and journalism industries. Hosted by the Alumnae Association in coordination with the College’s Office of Communications and Career Development Center, the event was held at the home of Mary Graham Davis ’65, president of the Alumnae Association. According to Graham Davis, the event was a “spectacular success, if the noise level was [any indicator] of how much networking was going on.”
Guest speaker, Time magazine deputy managing editor Priscilla Painton ’80, gave a lively speech on her optimistic view of print news, the rising tide of blogging and Internet journalism, and her belief that women have a place in journalism, regardless of its medium. Painton gave examples of women photographers, reporters, editors, and bloggers who have risen to the top of this previously testosterone-charged industry. She also gave examples of those who have fallen. Referring to Judith Miller and the erroneous pre-war coverage going into Iraq, she said, “It looks like [women have] come so far, we’re now even part of the problem.”
Painton was a guest faculty member at the College last fall semester. Her course, “Can you Trust a Journalist?” provoked discussion among the students in her class. “The [students] in my class were sophisticated about how the media works, how to dissect a news story on the page, and how to raise the broader question of whether journalists are fulfilling their roles in our democracy,” she said during her speech. But Painton’s class was one of only two communications-related courses offered at Mount Holyoke for the fall semester.
With women still relatively underrepresented in the field (Painton, who began her career at the Berkshire Eagle, referred to the industry back then as a “sexist swamp”) and few journalism-related resources available on campus, younger Mount Holyoke women rely on networking to garner support from older alumnae. Assistant research editor at Departures magazine, Elettra Fiumi ’05 objects to the limited community offered for aspiring journalists on campus but encourages the continuation of “these networking cocktails.” Fiumi believes that “young alumnae need mentors, people you can talk to comfortably [and] there’s something about talking to a Mount Holyoke alumna that feels safe.”
The journalism-specific focus of the reception was motivational for many of the guests. As Lauren Klein ’03 noted, “You walk out of a room like this and really get inspired.” Rather than general networking, guests at Monday’s event were able to leverage and get information relevant to their field.
Voicing the same sentiments, the reception offered something innovative, according to Roni Benson Schiffres ’77, because “it’s a difficult industry to succeed in and it’s good to make these [college] connections.” As Amy Kommatas ’01 observed, with so many successful Mount Holyoke alumnae in journalism and communications, it’s clear that “print really isn’t dead.”
