CLog Goes to New York City!

The Captain’s Log Staff attends annual CMA Conference

Photo+taken+by+Kyle+Cummings

Photo taken by Kyle Cummings

On Wednesday March 8th, 2023 the following Captain’s Log staff members took an eight hour train to New York City to attend the College Media Association (CMA) 2023 Conference: Grace Griles, Editor-in-Chief; Justin Heller, Business Manager; Evelyn Davidson, News Editor; Fiona Sullivan, Arts and Entertainment Editor; and Maggie Gammons, Social Media Manager. 

The Captain’s Log staff had the opportunity to hear from two keynote speakers. The first was Ramon Escobar who is the Vice President of Talent Recruitment and Development for CNN. The second was Marc Lacey, the Managing Editor of the New York Times. Each day of the conference contained a variety of fifty minute break out sessions from 9:00am to 4:30pm. At these breakout sessions The Captain’s Log staff had opportunities to ask questions and hear from current journalists. There were also tables of journalist graduate programs from Emerson College, Northwestern University, and Quinnipiac University where aspiring graduate students could talk with the faculty of the department. There was also a table form Gray Media encouraging seniors to apply for positions.

Many may be reading this and thinking to themselves what even is The College Media Association? The College Media Association was founded in 1954 and has been holding conferences ever since (collegemedia.org). According to the College Media Association website Fred and Lucille Keldow who were directors of the Associated Collegiate Press started having informal meetings in 1948, and a few years later they started having official meetings in Washington D.C. It was not until 2015 CMA moved their offices to New York City (collegemedia.org). 

CMA has had several conferences across the country in cities such as Miami, Florida; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; and many other major cities (collegemedia.org). Now CMA has two annual conferences. One is in the fall and typically held in Washington D.C. and is sponsored by the Associated Collegiate Press (collegemedia.org). The other is in the spring and is held in New York City (collegemedia.org). 

At this year’s conferences one of the journalists The Captain’s Log staff got to hear from was Paul Glader, a former Wall Street Journal Staffer.  His breakout session was about how to land journalism internships. He gave some what to do’s and what not to do’s to the room of eager, aspiring journalists. One was to not “make him do extra work” when submitting your writing samples. Glader explained that the best way to submit writing samples was through PDF and not through affiliate links. He also gave thorough advice on cover letters. Glader discouraged regurgitation of what is on one’s resume into the cover letter. Instead he encouraged to show off one’s writing skills and tell the story of why an individual wants to be a journalist.

What keynote speaker Ramon Escobar touched on was his personal journey into the journalism field. At the end of each keynote speaker the students attending were encouraged to ask questions. One student asked about what Escobar thought of people in the industry who pushed against diversity in the workplace. Escobar simply said that he believed if diversity is not implemented an organization will fail. 

The Captain’s Log returned to Newport News on Saturday March 10th ready to implement the knowledge they gained from the conference in their newsroom.