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Scripps’ Beck works with Greenlee students

By Heather Behrens
Behrens wrote the following story for her Jl MC 202 Intermediate Reporting class.

Pictured above are "Semester in Washington" alums Liz Owens and Jessica Anderson, a senior majoring in journalism and mass communication; Shauna Stephenson, a senior in jounalism and mass communication; "Semester in Washington" Director Jody Beck and Greenlee School Director Michael Bugeja.

From Lincoln, Neb., to Washington, D.C., Jody Beck has a wealth of journalism experience that helped her land the position as director of the Scripps Howard Foundation’s Semester in Washington program.

The Greenlee School invited Beck to share her expertise in journalism Sept. 7-9 as part of its effort to connect professionals with students.

“We thought she would be wonderful to come in and work with our students,” said Mark Witherspoon, a Greenlee lecturer and the adviser to the Iowa State Daily.

College years

Beck has her journalism roots in advertising, which she pursued from high school through college. It wasn't until her senior year at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln that she changed her life's path. An assignment involving cigarette ads sparked a realization that advertising might not be for her. She loved advertising and combining research and writing with art, but only if she liked the product.

"I didn't necessarily want to be promoting a product that I didn’t like," she said.

Beck, who was editor of the university’s yearbook for two years, quickly added a political science minor and focused her senior paper on the intersection of politics and journalism rather than focusing on advertising. Instead of spending time earning a different degree, Beck chose to complete her bachelor's degree in journalism specializing in advertising.

While in college, she fought for free expression after the legislature cut funding for guest lecturers because students had chosen to bring in anti-war speakers, including former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark.

“The Vietnam War was going on, and the students took over the ROTC building,” she said. “This astonished people because things like that didn’t happen in Nebraska.”

After college

After graduation, Beck wasn't exactly sure what avenue she wanted to try next. Politics grabbed her first as she went to work for Charles Thone's successful congressional campaign. Thone would later become Nebraska’s governor.

After the congressional campaign, she took a chance and set off to pursue her journalism career. She bought a one-way ticket to Washington, D.C., and began her job search. She sent out numerous resumes before landing a temporary job as an information specialist for the Internal Revenue Service in January of 1973.

Washington Star

From there she moved to The Washington Star and took dictation in the newsroom. This was before laptops and modems, and Beck would take dictation from reporters who were covering various beats around Washington on deadline. Arthritis in her neck today is a reminder of the hours spent with a phone glued to the crook of her neck and fingers flying over the keys of her typewriter as reporters called in their stories and people called in tips.

"We talked to the crazy people,” Beck said. “That was part of our job."

Editors at The Star, an afternoon paper, constantly scouted their staff for upcoming talent because the newspaper was understaffed. Dictation specialists and editorial assistants often wrote various stories and briefs, which earned them extra cash, while they waited to be hired as reporters. Beck eventually earned a coveted spot on the reporting staff where for a time she earned less than she had as a dictationist writing the occasional story.

Beck covered county government in suburban Maryland and Virginia. Beck also had a front-row seat for Watergate in her early years at The Star. It was a high time for American journalism. Yet Beck and her Star colleagues were also gradually witnessing the demise of their own paper as The Washington Post’s star rose, and by Aug.7, 1981 it was over. The Star ceased publication and Beck was back in the job market, this time competing against former coworkers and friends.

"It was really a strain on everybody,” she said. “It was really an emotionally difficult time.”

She began to worry about finding a job to make the mortgage and car payments when more than 300 former Star employees were looking for work.

Only a week later, she joined WRC-TV in Washington as a field researcher. Though she had no previous television experience, she continued to do what she had done before – talk to people and find stories. Eventually, Beck was absorbed into the assignment desk.

Graduate studies

In January 1998, she left WRC to pursue her master’s degree at the University of Maryland in College Park. She completed it in May 1999 and then worked as an adjunct faculty member at various colleges, including Maryland, Catholic University and American University. The pay was lousy with no benefits, but the opportunity gave her teaching experience for her resume.

"I had financial backup, so I could afford to do that for two years," she said. “It was really miserable.”

Teaching writing workshops and freelance writing allowed her the luxury of a poor-paying job. She promised herself if she hadn’t found a full time teaching position in two years, she would find a career path. The promise ended when the University of Maryland offered her a full-time position with benefits.

After that position was eliminated, Beck again found herself searching for a job, although she was less worried the second time around.

"If you ever lose your job again, you're a lot cooler," she said with a smile.

Semester in Washington

All her experience in the print, television and teaching fields proved exceptionally useful when she was hired as director for the Semester in Washington program. The position is good because it allows her to teach while working in a reporting environment, she said.

"This is nice because I can really experiment in the moment," she said.

With only six students at a time, she’s allowed to customize her teaching for each individual.

"I don't have 72 obits to grade," she said with a chuckle. "I get to focus more on each story and think about what each student needs.”

The interns appreciate her willingness to individualize. One intern, Iowa State’s Jessica Anderson, said she really appreciated Beck’s honesty when her leads were poor and that Beck gave her as much time as she needed during the editing process.

With Beck’s help and guidance, Anderson, a senior majoring in journalism and mass communication, covered a myriad of subjects from Senate hearings involving famous rappers to the Dalai Lama.

Besides reporting, Semester in Washington interns tour various places in Washington. Through the additional opportunities, Anderson met such professional journalists as Walter Mears of the Associated Press, Arthur Gelb of The New York Times and Bob Woodward of The Washington Post, from whom she nabbed an autograph.

“I learned a lot from her that I wouldn’t have learned in other internships,” Anderson said of Beck.

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