Washington Post Field Trip

On Friday, October 6th, GMU SPJ had the pleasure of touring the Washington Post. When we arrived, we were greeted by Post reporter Maura Judkis. She gave us a tour of the office, including the wall of Pulitzer Prizes. We got there at around 9am so it was fairly quiet because as Maura noted, most employees start coming in at 10am. She then took us to a conference room where she invited 3 other reporters in to share their career stories with us. They were all very different stories of how they ended up at the same place. They mentioned how much the newspaper world has changed over the past few years and how much it will change as we enter the journalism field. We learned about the Washington Post transformation under the current owner, Jeff Bezos. They also told us about the importance of digital and how that has become a major focus for their company. Another thing that we were surprised to hear was about the importance of coding. They said that it's definitely something journalists should know. After all of that helpful advice, we were taken to the rooftop where we saw a breathtaking view of D.C.  We took some photos and finished up our conversations with Maura and her colleagues. It was an amazing trip and great start to kick off the year!