Quinnipiac Journalism Assistant Professor Ben Bogardus has written a thoughtful piece for the CT Mirror, “Stop the Newsroom to Government Revolving Door.” He uses Max Reiss’ jump from NBC Connecticut to Governor Lamont’s communications office as his news peg. Some of us at The Laurel have made the same shift from newsrooms to advocacy…and we have a few practical points to make, not just in defense of Max Reiss but of anyone who makes that move:
-The ranks of the news media are shrinking so dramatically that many reporters need to consider their futures
-There are also high-profile examples of politicos moving into reporting (George Stephanopolous at ABC, Pete Williams at NBC). That transition seems to be more fraught with conflict than the reverse.
-We find that former reporters/producers often make very good communications people. They understand what reporters need and don’t need.
Thanks for writing the article, Ben. These issues should be aired and debated.
