Who Reports the News?

At major media outlets, the media are among the elite of society – and do not reflect the diversity of the general population, nor the diversity of their viewers or readers.

Many, if not most, attended private colleges and universities, many attended private schools before that, many have studied abroad and/or worked abroad. Reporters do not have backgrounds like most of the population they report on and for, and reporter’s perspectives may not align with the rest of the population.

This is well known within the media industry – see prior post on this topic. I am currently reading an introduction to journalism book. The author says in the first chapter that due to the collapse of newspaper employment, to get hired today (at other than very local publications), prospective journalists need a BA degree (typically in English or Journalism), possibly multiple internships, and often a Master’s degree from an elite university.

The supply of prospective journalists greatly exceeds the demand – hence, pay in the industry is terrible. The odd result is that much of today’s news is written by young reporters (mostly under 30) who had the privilege to attend private schools and colleges, at potentially great expense – for a career whose average pay, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics is about $49,000/year.

How This Began

In 2023, while researching something, I looked up the names of people who appeared in the business and tech news, to learn more about their backgrounds. This usually led to a LinkedIn page where their work experience and education is listed. Eventually, I cross referenced the reporters of the stories, out of curiosity.

Most reporters, most freelance writers that appeared in by lines, had attended one or more private universities, and/or had done study or work abroad. They attended private colleges that (in 2023 non-discounted list prices) are often $80,000 per year or $320,000 for 4 years (prices including housing and living expenses) – and then often attend a $100,000 or more MA or MS program.

The elite colleges are not cheap – here’s their tuition price (this does not included an estimated $20,000 for housing and living expenses):

Of course, they may have had discounts or scholarships (so too do those who attend public colleges). They earned a BA or BA/MA for jobs in journalism that, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, have a 2023 average pay of $49,000 per year. That does not seem like a good return on education investment. Industry insiders are aware of this too: A new journalism degree from Columbia, with a $150K catch (insidehighered.com) – 

“Cost of Columbia’s new graduate degree in data journalism slammed by journalists.”

Bing Chat sees this too: Oh – that last sentence may explain why many in the media want taxpayers to pay off student debts – journalism students may hold much of that debt and are not disinterested objective reporters.

It is reported that 87% of journalists wish, in retrospect, they had chosen a different field of study. Why are so many making poor financial choices – often taking on large debts to pay for elite education in a field that pays poorly?

Elite and Privileged

Many of these writers came from privilege – and their perspectives on life may be disconnected from the perspectives of say, someone who worked from age 10, saved their money, and paid for all of their own college tuition by themself, for both undergraduate and later, graduate degrees – and selected their field of study based on income, not passion or whether it was fun.

The media we consume is produced by an elite group who have little in common with the rest of us.

A 2018 study found more than 50% of the staff of elite newsrooms, like WSJ or Bloomberg, had graduated from elite colleges and universities – compared to 0.8% of the general population. About 1/3rd of all 4-year degree seekers attend a private college, and 2/3ds go to public colleges (which cost less). What is an elite and what is an elite university? See here.

A professor at a small private college says when reporters look for academic input, reporters call elite professors at elite universities – only. Reporters call people who are just like themselves – that is, they call other elites.

Diversity in Newsrooms

According to Pew Research, newsrooms lack racial and ethnic diversity and this impacts the type of stories they choose to cover.

• They also lack broad field and knowledge diversity.
• A lack of knowledge diversity impacts the types of stories they cover.
• A lack of multi-disciplinary background impacts how they view stories.
• A lack of life and culture diversity impacts their story choice and perspectives.
• Elite reporters tend to talk to other elites when seeking input.

It is good that many are highly educated and globally experienced – but many have a weakness: most lack specific training in the subjects they cover. They are expected to learn on the job, as part of “beat reporting”. It seems doubtful that many learn “on the job” about subjects like advanced statistics, calculus, biochemistry, physics, medicine, power engineering or computer science from reporting on a subject. This limits their perspectives – as noted below, they did not learn “how to think like” a scientist or engineer. Instead, they learned how to think like a journalist, which may be good but is insufficient.

Lack of Skill Diversity

Most journalists have degrees in the humanities (English, Creative Writing, History) or journalism, or sometimes political science or sociology.

Specifically, per Pew Research, 77% of reporters have a degree in the arts or humanities. Few journalists have degrees in science or engineering (but some do!). In the business press, many reporters have degrees in economics, business, finance and so on – whereas most reporters focusing on other topics (health care, science, climate, computer science) have degrees in the humanities.

They are story tellers.

Considering the topics of modern life, it seems desirable for more reporters to be trained in the subject areas they are covering. Why does the media hire a lot of business/finance/economics majors for business news coverage, and meteorologists for weather reports? But employs English and History majors as Senior Climate Reporters and Senior Science Correspondents? How does this make sense?

Do you suppose the frauds of Elizabeth Holmes/Theranos would have been discovered sooner if more reporters had credible science backgrounds?

Holmes was a creation of the media by reporters who themselves lacked detailed understanding of the subject at hand.  CNN reports that journalist Roger Parloff (BA in American Literature/Harvard, JD/Yale) admitted he was duped and his work had “raised her to prominence“. He later retracted his original story about Theranos as Holmes’ fraud became known and he testified against her, at trial.

Another influential column was written by the late Joseph Rago and appeared in the Wall Street Journal: Joseph Rago: A Drop of Blood. An Instant Diagnosis – WSJ. Rago had a degree in history from Dartmouth (an elite school), and by his untimely death (due to disease) at age 34, had won a Pulitzer Prize.

Many media outlets featured Holmes on their magazine covers: Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes’s Five Best Cover Story Appearances, Ranked – Vox

That linked story indicts the media – the media admitted they created Elizabeth Holmes – she manipulated reporters who lacked the knowledge to question her claims. One newspaper editor said, a couple of decades ago, that too many reporters were intimidated by Ph.D.s and those with titles and skills outside the scope of the reporter’s background. More on this in a moment.

The same phenomena occurred with Sam Bankman-Fried, also convicted of fraud: Why were the media hypnotised by Sam Bankman-Fried? | John Naughton | The Guardian “Credulous or ignorant interviewers made it easier for the disgraced crypto wunderkind to pull the wool”:

The biggest question prompted by this apology tour is: why did so many apparently serious media outfits let him get away with it? The interview questions were often softball ones, occasionally toe-curlingly so. Some interviewers confessed apologetically that they knew nothing about the complex businesses he had run and allowed themselves to be bemused by the incomprehensible bullshit he was emitting. Often, they seemed hypnotised, as many otherwise sensible people had been before the crash, by this tech wunderkind with big hair and baggy shorts who had, until recently, been promising to give away his phenomenal wealth to good causes, while in fact he had seemingly been presiding over the vaporisation of billions of dollars of other people’s savings.

See also: Sam Bankman-Fried & the FTX Crypto Myth – Tablet Magazine – “How the media created the myth of Sam Bankman-Fried”. One of the story tellers who promoted SBF in the NY Times, has – surprise – a BA in English not a degree in business, economics or finance. That author now promotes on his own web page how he reported on the downfall of SBF – leaving out the role the reporter played in creating the myth of SBF.

This was not merely incompetent media missing the story – instead, the media became willful accomplices in promoting these frauds – because the media lacks the skills to truly and skeptically question most experts. Mark Twain is purported to have said (but no evidence he said this) – “If you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed. If you read the newspaper your are misinformed”. Which seems to have been spot on.

It is critical that journalism have a diverse set of knowledge within their ranks; today the field is a mostly mono-culture of those skilled in story telling – many have attended private schools, expensive and elite private universities, and did study and work abroad. That is valuable but leads to experiences very different from the general population about who they report – and is viewed through their own lens of “how reporters think”.

This leads to out of touch reporting by those lacking the knowledge to ask the right questions – and we should assume the more the media hyperventilates over a topic, the more likely their reporting is wrong.

What is “Science Journalism”?

A few reporters list an MS degree in “Science Journalism”. What is science journalism? According to Columbia University, students studying science journalism

“get a landscape view, looking at history, patterns of discovery and innovation. The seminar emphasizes understanding the culture and practice of science, giving students the skills to interpret a peer-reviewed study as well as providing a clear understanding of the peer-review process, its origin and its challenges. The course places particular emphasis on writing creatively and compellingly, whether in a short news story or in a long piece of narrative nonfiction.”

The above is not a STEM degree. Students take one course in statistics – unfortunately, there is no online description of the course besides this:

M.A. Evidence and Inference

Nicholas Lemann and Tali Woodward

Neither instructor has a background in math or statistics. Nicholas Leman was a publishing executive at several national news outlets; he has a BA in American history and literature from Harvard. Tali Woodward has a BA in History, and an MA in Science Journalism from Columbia.

We are trained to think in specialized ways

A nurse is trained to think like a nurse.

A lawyer is trained to think like a lawyer.

A scientist is trained to think like a scientist.

A doctor is trained to think like a doctor.

A journalist is trained to think like a journalist.

An business person (MBA) is trained to think like a business manager.

A public health official, says former NIH Director Francis Collins, is trained to give infinite value to saving one life and zero value to all the costs and harms that this saving may require. The implication is that public health people are trained to think exclusively like public health people – which led them to ignore and censor other viewpoints and badly mess things up: Francis Collins Has Regrets, but Too Few – WSJ

While each “way of thinking” is useful, it results in a narrow perspective.  This is why we have multi-disciplinary teams and diversity.

Multiple perspectives are important. I went from computer science, where I was trained to think like a computer scientist, to later earning an MBA – where I discovered new ways of thinking about problems. I realized our studies train us to think like others in our own fields. I’d spent two decades thinking about everything as a computer scientist does. As a consequence, I missed seeing things that others saw – to me, all the world’s problems to be solved were just software problems – an overly simplistic view of the world.

The media is a mono-cultural lacking diversity in ways of thinking about problems.

Most reporters are well educated, bright and hard working. That’s not the problem. The problem is that most, educated in English, Writing, History, Political Science and Journalism, report on subjects well outside their knowledge base. This can result in being persuadable by subjects with impressive academic backgrounds (e.g. PhD’s, MD’s) or titles (vice president, president, chief science officer, chief technology officer, founder) and results in a deference to “authorities” – who then get away with misleading the reporter.

They write “stories”, not “news reports”, and defer to “an appeal to authority” in their coverage. To illustrate, some reporting is overly dramatic – climate stories, today, are far more dramatic, and use emotional terminology that is not found in IPCC reports and seldom used by climate scientists. Climate scientists themselves say an emphasis on unlikely scenarios and “doomism” is not helpful to addressing climate issues. But to creative story writers educated in the great works of literature, emotional click-bait hooks are what story telling is about – and the media has devolved into yellow journalism.

The List

Most of reporters, listed below, are talented and hardworking reporters. Their traditional journalism skills are not the issue. The issue here, as I originally compiled this, was to note their often elite education and global experiences that are atypical of the typical news consumer, and to observe the general lack of training in fields outside of writing.

This elite-ness may be due to “over qualification”when the supply of available workers is large relative to demand. Only the “highest qualified” (elite schools, elite and global experiences) will be selected when there are dozens or hundreds of applicants for each open position. This biases job seekers to pursue elite qualifications and experiences to stand out from other applicants.

An observation: for unknown reasons, a large majority of today’s reporters are women, generally under 30 years of age. In the overall field, employment is slightly based towards men, but rapidly turning towards a female majority. Currently, about 2 in 3 students in journalism programs are women, but the field draws heavily from those who studied English literature, writing, history and sometimes political science – which may enroll more women than men (which is true for education and nursing – which are about 75-90% female – for example, or the opposite situation in some engineering fields).

Limitations on this list

This is not a random sample. The results are biased by the type of news I read (typically national, business, finance, tech and some science and health topics), and the choice of web sites I used for news (for example, WSJ, CNBC, Ars Technica and more). Consequently, the results shown in this last cannot be generalized to all reporters at all outlets; indeed, many local news reporters lack elite school and global connections. All information is from public sources – their own author bios, their LinkedIn profile page, their own website, or sometimes their Instagram pages (for travel histories). I’ve included my own background at the end of this list.

Hayley Smith, LA Times Reporter

BA English and American Literature, New York University (NYU), MS, Journalism from University of Southern California (USC), and attended high school at New World School of the Arts, Florida, operated by Miami-Dade County Public Schools (not private). No science background but her focus is wildfires, drought and climate. USC’s non-subsidized cost of attendance in 2023 is about $80,000/year for tuition and living expense, NYU’s non-subsidized cost of attendance in 2023 is about $80,000/year.

Tori Otten, Reporter The New Republic

BA in English Literature and Letters and French from Tufts University (non-subsidized tuition + expenses is about $85,000/year in 2023), studied abroad in France, and did an MS in journalism at Columbia University (estimated costs of about $125,000 in 2023). Also attended Sciences Po in France. This is an elite education.

Ernestine Siu, CNBC Producer

BA in political science and government/UC Irvine, an accomplished, multi-lingual (English and Cantonese) media worker, she has much global travel experience including Thailand, Mexico, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Vietnam, Dominican Republic and all over the U.S. including Hawaii. She reports on business topics for CNBC.

Chris Davies, editor SlashGear

Now based in Michigan, he immigrated from the UK, where he attended university. BA in psychology, MA in counseling. He edits a technology news outlet.

Elisabeth Bumiller, Editor

Bumiller is the Washington bureau chief of the Washington Post. She was born in Denmark, and her first child was born in Japan, when she and her husband lived there. BA from private Northwestern University, and MA from Columbia University, in journalism.

Katie Brigham, CNBC Producer

Has a BA in Studio Art and International Relations, and an MA in journalism, both from Stanford University where at the time of this writing, tuition is $20,577 per quarter or $61,731 per 9 month academic year. There is an additional $723 mandatory health fee. Housing adds over $4,000 per quarter ($12,000 per academic year), and meal plans add about $7200 per 9 months. Total non-subsidized cost is about $82,000 per year.

With her non-STEM background she reports on “energy, green tech, and climate change”. She volunteered abroad during her summers in college, and worked in Berlin, Germany for a time, long after graduation. With a degree in Intl Relations, she very likely studied abroad, as well. In her own words, she became a journalist to be a “Journalist-Artist-Activist”.

Alison Snyder, AXIOS Science Reporter

Unlike most science reporters, Snyder has a degree in chemical engineering and a Masters in botany and evolutionary biology. Her S.B. in chemical engineering is from MIT, her MA in Journalism from NYU, and a Masters in botany and evolutionary biology from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand (global experience). I’ve listed several reporters with science background here at the top of the list.

Gretchen Cuda Kroen, Ph.D., Science Reporting

BS, MS in biomedical engineering, PhD in neuropharmacology (all Boston University), MS in Broadcast and Investigative Journalism, Columbia University. She is well qualified to cover science subjects. Speaks English, German and Portuguese fluently presumably from living abroad experiences. Boston and Columbia are elite universities.

Jocelyn Solis-Moreira, Freelance health and science writer

BS, Neuroscience, Binghampton University, MS, Psychology, Binghampton University – a qualified science reporter.

Aria Bendix, Breaking Health Reporter for NBC News Digital

BA in English Lit, from Harvard, MFA in Creative Writing, from The New School. She has no formal training in any area of health, medicine or science. Immediately prior to working for NBC, she was a reporter for content mill web site Insider.com. In this interview, she reveals that NBC deletes all emails 60 or more days old – very interesting. That interview shows how journalism is a game between publicists looking to plant stories, and reporters pitching their story ideas to managers. It’s for maximizing eyeballs.

Katie Tarasov (Schoolov), CNBC Producer

B.S. in journalism / Northwestern University (about $80,000/year in non-subsidized 2023 costs), background in general reporting, but now reports on the tech industry. Studied and works in the U.S. but also did an internship in South Africa. Has traveled to at least 43 countries by the age of 35.

Izzie Ramirez, an Editor at VOX

BA in journalism and global liberal studies and MA in Science Journalism, both from Columbia University. Also studied abroad in San Sebastian, Spain and is C1 fluent in Spanish.

Tanaya Macheel, CNBC

Attended private Convent & Stuart Hall school in SF ($39k to $52k/year). Graduated from NYU (degree unknown, $80,000/year in 2023); did internships in Paris and London. Now based in NY where she reports on crypto and investing.

Brigid Mander, Writer

From Long Island, NY, Mander is not a reporter, but does write for the WSJ plus outdoor adventure magazines and outlets (e.g. REI). She has lived in the US, Chile and Canada. No other biographical information available.

Yuko Tamura, Writer

Based in Japan, she completed an MBA at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. From her work experience, presume she is from Japan.

Ashley Capoot, CNBC Associate Reporter

Graduate of Northwestern University (about $80,000/year in expenses in 2023) in journalism and international studies. The latter requires at least 3 language courses taken at the university and students are “encouraged” to develop competency in one language, and while a study abroad is not required, it is recommended. She has international travel experience as posted on her IG page.

Maria Paz Noyen, Insider Lifestyle Reporter

Born in Luxembourg to a Dutch Dad and an American mother (her Mom is from Puerto Rico, and her Dad from the Netherlands and they now live in Spain), she mostly grew up in the UK. She may have citizenship in up to 4 countries (Luxembourg offers citizenship to those born there, regardless of parents’ nationalities, the UK, US citizenship by virtue of her Mom and Dutch citizenship by virtue of her father). She then did her 4-year degree in journalism at Boston University in the U.S. (about $85k/year in tuition fees and costs), did an internship in Dubai, UAE, and also did the Semester at Sea program (11 countries). Then after graduating, worked in the U.K. In 2023, she moved to the U.S. Prior to college, she attended a private high school with tuition running about 28,000 British pounds or about US $35,000/year. Has quite an elite background for working a modest paid job at Insider. She writes many fluffy content mill stories.

Katie Brigham, CNBC Producer

Has a BA in Studio Art and International Relations, and an MA in journalism, both from Stanford University where at the time of this writing, tuition is $20,577 per quarter or $61,731 per 9 month academic year. There is an additional $723 mandatory health fee. Housing adds over $4,000 per quarter ($12,000 per academic year), and meal plans add about $7200 per 9 months. Total non-subsidized cost is about $82,000 per year.

With her non-STEM background she reports on “energy, green tech, and climate change”. She volunteered abroad during her summers in college, and worked in Berlin, Germany for a time, long after graduation. With a degree in Intl Relations, she very likely studied abroad, as well. In her own words, she became a journalist to be a “Journalist-Artist-Activist”.

Spencer Kimball, CNBC Reporter

Attended Centre College (BA Intl/Global studies, history, German, Kentucky private college at about $60k/year in 2023 expenses), and the Free University of Berlin, and then worked for Deutsche Welle in Bonn, for over 4 years, before returning to the U.S. Even though he has no formal training in the subject, he covers “Health” for CNBC.

Katherine Maher, CEO, National Public Radio (2024)

In addition to NPR, she previously ran Wikimedia/Wikipedia, and worked at other global names (like WEF), after an elite education. She also worked in Canada, Germany and the UK, and for the Council on Foreign Relations:

Nicole Petallides, Finance Reporter

Attended all private schools K-12, then The American University in Washington, DC. She has worked from Schwab, TD Ameritrade, CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, Fox Business and others. Her mother was an immigrant from Greece who publishes a Greek newspaper in the U.S. Petallides is eligible for dual citizenship with Greece, by virtue of being born to a Greek parent, regardless of location.

Phoebe Weston, Biodiversity Reporter, The Guardian

Prior to that, she was a Science Correspondent and before that, a “freelance writer” on environment, science and nature, and before that, a Science and Technology Reporter. She has no training in the subjects, with an MA in Journalism (London), an MA in Social Anthropology (Edinburgh), a BA in Social Sciences (University Paris Cite).

Patrick Greenfield, Biodiversity Reporter, The Guardian

BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (University of York), MA in International Development and Economics from Yale University. Elite schools but he has no STEM background, even though that is his “beat”.

Nicole Martillaro, CBC Senior Science Reporter, CBC

She has a BAA in journalism, no science training. She is a past editor of The Journal of The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. The RASC is a national association of amateur/hobby astronomer enthusiasts. (I am also an amateur astronomer and a past member of the Spokane Astronomical Society, the 2nd oldest astronomy hobby group in the U.S.). Martillaro does not have a STEM education background even though she is a senior science reporter.

Kathleen Wong, USA Today

The author has a BA in journalism and sociology from NYU (unsubsidized cost in 2023 is about $80k/year for tuition and other expenses. She did a study abroad in Paris and also Accra, Ghana.

Jessica Tarlov, Ph.D., Fox News

BA in history from Bryn Mawr University (about $80,000/year in unsubsidized tuition, fees, housing, etc), MSc in public policy and administration, MA in political science, Ph.D. in political science – all three from The London School of Economics and Political Science. She works part time in media, full time in marketing communications.

Brooke Depalma, Yahoo Finance

BA in communication and media studies from Marist College (about $55,000/year in 2023), studied 4 years of Italian and did a study abroad in Italy. She reports on business, economics and finance.

Julieta Cardenas, Reporter, VOX

Brown University (private university), BA, Architecture, Art and History, and studied at Middlebury (VT) Language Schools (private college). Harvard University (private university), Graduate School of Design. MA, Animal Studies, NYU (private university, in progress). She says we are in the sixth mass extinction.

Neil Irwin, Chief Economic Correspondent Axios

BA in Economics and political science (St. Mary’s College of MD), MBA, Finance and Economics, Columbia Business School (Columbia University). He is well qualified in this subject area.

Sareen Habeshian, Reporter Axios

BA in Media studies, Armenian Language and Literature, UC Berkeley, MS, Journalism, University of Southern California. Worked in Yerevan, Armenia for 2 months (and has done a lot for the Armenian community).

Katherine Long, Reporter, Insider.com

Long is a young reporter at Insider.com. She attended private Brown University and Columbia University (where the combined, unsubsidized costs are in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars), plus did two study abroad programs (one 5-month semester plus a 7-month intensive study program abroad). She lists 4 languages on her profile page. Quite an elitist. She is famous for a hit piece she co-wrote in January 2024. Rather than attacking her target, she attacked his spouse – considered low move by a reporter. She continued on, sending a 12-page list of allegations and requesting a response – in an hour.

Amy Cockerham, WSLS TV local news reporter

A University of North Carolina grad, she did a year study abroad at City, University of London.

Alicia Erickson, Freelance Journalist and Travel Writer

She went to private international schools in Japan and Luxembourg, before her family returned to the U.S. for her to start public high school. Abroad, she took field trips to other countries, had multi-cultural background teachers and fellow students from countries all over the world. She was so much better educated and smarter than American students, that AP courses were her only salvation, she said. Today she is globally educated (U.S., London, Ghana) story teller who travels the world as an activist, telling other people what to do.

Emily Peck, Markets Correspondent Axios

BA Political Science, SUNY, Albany, MA Political Science, Columbia University.

Jennifer A. Kingson, Chief Correspondent/Editor “What’s Next” Axios

Phillips Exeter Academy and then Harvard University, degrees earned not specified. Phillips Exeter is an elite private high school with students from “44 states and 33 countries”, representing six continents, with a 5:1 student/teacher ratio.

Alyssa Edes, Reporter, NY Public Radio

Attended a private all-girl boarding school ($56-$64k/year for boarding students not including financial aid, if used), did a foreign exchange program in Korea, then attended private Emerson College (tuition, fees and housing runs about $75k/year for 2023-2024), for a BA in broadcast journalism. In 2024, the unsubsidized cost of this would be about $200k (assuming 4 years at Chatham) and $300k at Emerson or about half a million dollars. Per research, those who attend private single sex schools generally come from wealth.

Annie Probert, Intern, CNBC

BA in journalism and political science, study abroad in London, now working on an MA in Media Advocacy, both degrees from private Northeastern University in Boston, which has a non-discounted tuition, fees and housing cost of about $80,000 per year. “Media Advocacy” is a literal degree in the methods of propaganda: “…through one intensive degree program you could master the core skills of persuading an array of audiences to support public policies that would benefit your cause or organization“.

Ken Dilanian, Reporter AP

BA political science and history. from Williams College (2023 cost about $80k/year). The first job he lists on his bio includes work in Baghdad, and “Rome-based”, covering issues in Europe. He collaborated with the CIA on his reporting, sometimes writing what the CIA asked him to write and spinning stories to favor the CIA, which harmed his credibility. He now covers justice and intelligence topics.

Sabrina Ortiz, Editor, ZDNet

BA in political science, media and journalism / University of North Carolina. She reports on technology and AI. Notably has no science or tech background.

Patricia Kowsmann, WSJ

BA in journalism (PUC Minas/Brazil), MS, Journalism/Northwestern University (about $80,000/year in expenses), then reported from the US, Singapore, UK, Portugal, and now in Germany, reporting on European finance. She is from Brazil.

Caitlin Ostroff, WSJ

BA in journalism, political science / University of Florida, covers finance and tech. Says she writes software in Python, R and Node.js, and previously worked as a data reporter / data analyst to uncover stories. Sounds cool – and qualified – based on real world experience.

James Mackintosh, Markets columnist, WSJ

Undergrad Philosophy and Psychology/University of Oxford, 2 years post graduate study in philosophy at University of Oxford, 3 months of study at the University of Chicago, reports on markets for the WSJ.

Amna Nawaz, PBS NewsHour

Born in the U.S. to Pakistani immigrant parents, she attended the London School of Economics for a Master’s degree in comparative politics.

David Wallace-Wells, Climate Reporter

He attended both the University of Chicago, and Brown University, where he earned a degree in history. His writings imply we will all die from terrifying climate change that will render the earth uninhabitable (he has no actual science background, nor training in uncertainty and risk).

MacKenzie Sigalos, Reporter CNBC

From the U.S., she has a BA from Harvard (about $77,000/year in 2023) and an MS from Oxford University (subject areas not specified, US$35,000 to $55,000/year, plus housing, food expenses), and worked for CNN for 3 years, now based out of Hong Kong.

Isabelle Durso, Reporter US Daily Express

A June 2023 graduate of Boston University, in journalism, film and TV, she did a study abroad in Dublin, Ireland.

Benjamin Ryan, Independent Reporter

An independent reporter, he grew up in Seattle but did “stints” in Paris. No other biographical information available.

James Rodriguez, Reporter Business Insider

BA (unspecified major), BBA in business / University of Texas, summer study abroad in Argentina and prior work as a data reporter. Now concentrates on real estate reporting for Business Insider. Seems qualified.

Margot Patrick, WSJ Reporter

Reports on finance from London, England. BA in English and political science/University of Massachusetts, MS in journalism, Columbia University.

Natasha Bertrand, Reporter CNN

She attended Vassar College in the U.S. (BA political science and philosophy, about $85,000/year in 2023), and the London School of Economics and Political Science in government and philosophy (degree not specified, about 25,000 British pounds or about $32k/year for tuition, then add housing and fees – actually not a bad price), worked as an intern in Spain, an intern in London, and thereafter in NYC or Washington, DC. She has native fluency in English and Spanish. She reports on national security topics and appears well qualified to do that.

Erin Snodgrass, Reporter Business Insider

BA in mass communications. Studied abroad in Czech and did an internship there as well. Global experience seems important in the field – many have done study or internships abroad.

Monica Petrilli, CNBC Reporter

BS, Journalism, and JD, both University of Texas. Worked in law for 5 years, then as a freelance travel writer based in CA and Singapore. Now lives full time in Singapore and is a Travel Editor for CNBC. There isn’t any formal training for travel – other than travel experience.

Lam Thuy Vo, Investigative Reporter

She has a BA in German and Italian studies from University College London, and an MS in journalism from Columbia and has run “workshops for journalists across the U.S. as well as from Asia, Latin America, and Europe”, and worked in Hong Kong for two years. She has done much work in data analysis and visualization. She was born in Germany to Vietnamese immigrant parents and has lived in Berlin, London, Hong Kong, Oakland and NYC. Extraordinary global skills.

Cassidy Ritter, Tech Reporter Denver Business Journal

BA in journalism, with minor in business and global studies/University of Kansas. Is now a tech reporter. Studied abroad in Australia.

Barbara Moran, Science Writer, WBUR

She has a BA in American Studies from the University of Notre Dame, and an MS in Science Journalism from Boston University. She is an adjunct English instructor at Boston College. In 2023, the non-subsidized costs of attending UND, including housing, etc is about $80,000 per year, and the non-subsidized cost of attending the Boston University grad program is about $86,000 per year.

Kyla Mandel, Senior Editor for Climate and Science at Time

BA, Political Science, History and Environment at McGill University, MA, Journalism, London College of Communication, and MA, Specialized Journalism from Columbia University. She is from Montreal but now works in the U.S. Presumably is fluent in English and French.

Amelia Tiemann, Communications Project Specialist

She is a writer for the American Nuclear Society, and has undergraduate (private Bard College, NY, about $80k/year in combined costs in 2023) and graduate degrees (UC, Davis) in Environmental Policy and Management, and also studied abroad at the University of Melbourne, Australia. She is hyper focused on climate change and the catastrophe it will allegedly cause – but is a global traveler as shown on her Instagram page.

Oliver Staley, Reporter for Time

BA, History, Columbia University, and MS, Journalism, Columbia University

Vera Bergengruen, Senior Correspondent, Time

BA, Political Science and Government, Dartmouth University (private), with a study abroad in Morocco.

Astha Raivanshi, Staff Writer, Time

BA, Media and Communications, University of Sydney (Australia), MS, Journalism, Columbia University.

Tiffany Ng, Freelance Tech and Culture Writer

Attended Chinese International School (Hong Kong), then BA in Ethics, Politics and Economics and History of Art at Yale University. Speaks English, Mandarin and Cantonese. From her IG, she has traveled throughout the world. She is now based in New York.

Justin Worland, Senior Correspondent at Time

BA, History, Harvard University

Astha Rajvanshi, Staff Writer for Time

Born in India, grew up in Australia, completed an MS in Journalism at Columbia University (undergrad degree not specified), worked in India and Korea, and is now based in London.

Linette Lopez, Writer Insider.com

Born to immigrant parents, she earned a BA in history and sociology, and an MA in journalism from Columbia University.

Louise Ferrer, Writer

She is based in Virginia but has extensive education and work experience from the Philippines.

Adam Mohoney, National Climate and Environment Reporter, Capital B

B.S. in journalism from private Northwestern University (scholarship), study or work abroad in Uganda, Palestine and Vietnam. No STEM, climate or environmental science background.

Catalina Jaramillo, FactCheck.org

BA in humanities and journalism, Universidad Católica de Chile, and MS, Journalism, Columbia University. Now based in the United States, she previously worked in Chile and Mexico.

Alexandra Canal, Reporter Yahoo Finance

Attended private prep high school ($18k/year in 2023 but all students receive scholarship assistance), then Georgetown University (BA English language and literature, modestly priced for a well-known private university at about $55k/year with housing, etc, as of 2023), with a study abroad in Italy, and later, Wharton Seminars for Business Journalists (in person at UPenn) learning basics of accounting, finance and taxation (a micro MBA). Qualified.

Cecily Mauran, Reporter Mashable

A tech reporter for Mashable, her past work experience includes working in Chile, Turkey, Myanmar, and Panama and speaks English, Spanish and French.

Ashley Harrell, Journalist SFGate.com and Lonely Planet

Has reported from 15 countries, and lived in Costa Rica for almost 5 years. (she works also for Lonely Planet, so that is understandable – Lonely Planet books are good).  BS in Business Admin, University of North Carolina, MA in Journalism, NYU (elite school).

Eliza Relman, Reporter for Insider

Went to Dartmouth, then taught for a year in Bangladesh, and later, worked in Germany for a bit, now based in Washington DC. Elite school, international experience.

Diana Olick, Senior Climate and Real Estate Reporter, CNBC

Has a BA in comparative literature and Soviet Studies from Columbia College, and an MS in Journalism from Northwestern; both private colleges. With that background she is the Senior Climate and Real Estate reporter for CNBC. She has worked in Moscow, Bahrain, Albania and Kosovo. She has reported on Climate topics since 2021 but is now a Senior Climate reporter; in that role, she travel to international climate conferences.

Ayelet Sheffy, Senior Economic Policy Reporter Business Insider

BA, Journalism, American University in Washington, DC. Study abroad, King’s College London. 3 years after graduation with a degree in journalism, her title is “Senior Economic Policy Reporter”. She focuses on students who took out loans for college and see that their chosen degree pays little.

Kaja Perina, Editor of Psychology Today

BA in English language and literature, Vassar College, MS in Journalism, Columbia University. Speaks English, German, French, Czech and Italian. More background. She headed up the 2018 study that found that graduates of elite universities dominate in major news outlets.

Julia Pugachevsky, Reporter Business Insider

In an article she mentions she is following Russia’s war against Ukraine closely and keeping in close contact with immediate family there. Says her parents and grandparents have told her about life in Ukraine during the days of the USSR. It is not clear if she was born in the Ukraine or elsewhere, but she has close international connections and is a graduate of elite school NYU.

Meriam Berger, Reporter Washington Post

She was co-author on the report with Pugachevsky about the elite backgrounds of media personalities. Berger is from the U.S., did her Masters at Oxford, then worked in multiple countries before based back in the U.S.

Deidre McPhillips, Health Data Editor at CNN

BA in finance and Spanish, Fordham University, with a study abroad in Madrid, and MA in Journalism, University of Maryland.

Steven A. Smith, Former Editor

Former editor of the Spokesman-Review newspaper, in the summer of 2023, he was arrested and charged with child pornography offenses in July of 2023. I had not expected an international background but he had taught journalism in Sweden, Norway and Ukraine.

Samantha Mathewson, Science Writer Space.com

“I have studied abroad in Iceland and San Salvador Island, Bahamas, for photography and geology field research respectively. After my experiences I decided to aspire to be a environmental science based travel writer and photographer.” (source). BA in communications and media studies, University of New Haven (Estimated annual expenses about $65,000/year), MA in Communication, Fairfield University (Grad tuition about $20k/year).

Michael Wall, Senior Space Writer, Space.com

“Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com … Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz.”

Jordan Parker Erb, Reporter Insider.com

She has a degree in journalism (Boise State University) and international relations, studied Arabic and Spanish, studied abroad in Morocco, MA in journalism from Northeastern University and has worked in Cuba, Panama and Morocco and Thailand.

Alexandra York, Reporter

Graduated from NYU but also attended the NYU campus in Prague, and the Dalian University of Foreign Languages in Dalian, Liaoning, China.

Elizabeth Gravier, Reporter

She did a study abroad in Australia. While looking her up, also found a different author, Elizabeth Graver, who was born in Istanbul, then migrated to Spain, Cuba and eventually New York.

Taylor Rains, Aviation Reporter, Insider.com

She is extremely well qualified for reporting on aviation subjects, both by training and work experience. Bachelor’s in Aviation Management and extensive work experience in the field before switching to travel and aviation journalism. She has been to 45 countries and all 7 continents.

Monica Humphries, Reporter Business Insider/Insider.com

Humphries is a writer for Business Insider and attended public University of Florida to earn a BA in journalism. From her writing, and her Instagram page, she has traveled to Europe multiple times, Japan, Canada, Puerto Rico, Australia and New Zealand, gone on cruise ships, and more, for many years (she’s about 27 yet has extensive travel experience). Recently she began staying in 5-star hotels and has flown Business Class, per her writings.

Amy Benson, Author

Snapshots of the End of Travel: On Trying to Enter a Personal No-Fly Zone ‹ Literary Hub (lithub.com). In the linked article, author Amy Benson documents her extensive global travel experience (massively extensive)- and that of her husband – and how it has benefited her – but today, after she has benefited extensively from travel – everyone else should embrace “sacrifice” and give up air travel. She created Columbia University’s Creative Writing Abroad program, in Paris, France. In her column, above, she quotes a philosopher who says your choice to travel means the death of one or two people in the future. She has a BS in biology from Bowling Green State University, and an MFA in poetry, from the University of Alabama. She has taught at Columbia and Fordham universities. From her writings, above, she lives in the world of the elite.

Alanah Pearce, Writer

Bachelor’s in Mass Communication, Journalism, Entertainment from Queensland University of Technology, Australia. She now lives in the U.S., works for Sony in Santa Monica, CA and writes scripts for game development and about video games for Sony and others.

Erica Berry, Writer

In the NY Times, she writes a column saying she ditches potential boyfriends who do not share her extreme anxiety and thoughts over climate change (and anxiety about nearly everything). She implies she and others want to date those willing to make necessary sacrifices such as “to do the inconvenient work of reimagining our own lives”. She ends the column by saying, basically, she will only date someone who has anxiety at least as bad as her. She attended Bowdoin College for a BA in English and Environmental Studies, and an MFA in creative nonfiction writing from the University of Minnesota. The tuition, fees and housing costs at Bowdoin, in 2023, are about $85,000/year or $340,000. She did a study abroad at the University of Edinburgh. She has taught at Oxford Academia (England, France and Italy). Like many of the literary elite, she has done much global travel.

Emily Price. Freelance Tech, Travel and Lifestyle journalist.

Harvard University. Journalism. 2008. (No specific degree listed)

Gosia Wozniaka, Reporter, The Oregonian

She is the environmental justice reporter for The Oregonian newspaper. Per her own web page, she appears to fly back and forth between Europe and the US frequently and likely enjoys dual citizenship. She refers to herself in her Twitter bio as a “world citizen”.

Wozniacka was born in Poland when it was still a communist country. Her family became refugees in France when she was 12 years old, just a year before the Germans dismantled the Berlin Wall. Two years later, unable to stop moving, the family immigrated to the United States. Wozniacka has studied and worked on both continents and is often on the road between the two. She is fluent in English, Polish, Spanish and French (which means immersion in those cultures from likely having lived in such countries) and received her Master’s degree from the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley. She also spent a year training in long-form narrative writing at the Institute of Reportage in Warsaw, Poland. GOSIA WOZNIACKA | journalist

She returned from the U.S. to go to college in Poland, then pursued more education in the U.S., then returned to Poland later for another program – and as she notes, “is often on the road between the two”. She has done reporting from Central America and India, as well as Europe and the U.S.

Paul Brandus, Opinion Columnist

Brandus has traveled to 53 countries “so far” and lived in several of them. According to his Linkedin bio, he’s been a frequent keynote speaker at events in Europe.

Katrina vanden Heuvel, Editor, The Nation

She is the editor and publisher of The Nation and co-founder of the Covering Climate Now “collaborative initiative”, a climate propaganda operation and through which the media should spin everything as climate related catastrophe. She has an undergraduate degree in politics. She went on to spend much of her life as a reporter, covering the USSR, and living and working in the USSR, later Russia, traveling back and forth between Russia and the U.S. and Europe.

Chris Hedges, Writer, Minister, Activist

Pulitzer prize winner, Presbyterian minister, serial plagiarist, and anti-war and anti-corporation activist, he says climate change will cause “the ravaging of the planet”. He writes novels about a future “climate dystopia” and supports Extinction Rebellion. He (and friends) believe we are in the “The Dawn of the Apocalypse” and supports Occupy Wall Street. He lived and worked in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Buenos Aires/Argentina, Paris/France, Israel, and other areas of the Middle East, and Sarajevo/Kosovo but supports group that urge ending global travel.

About Me

As I have described the background of reporters, above, it is only fair to also list my own background (which is also available at LinkedIn).

I did not graduate from high school and left one year early (long story) and attended San Jose State University, a public state college, for 2 years (General Engineering) while living at my parent’s house, then transferred to the University of California, Irvine, and completed a B.S. in Information and Computer Science.

The 2023 tuition and fees at SJSU runs about $8,000 per year. That surprised me as I paid over $2,000/year when I attended, and I thought it would be higher today. Since I lived at home, my housing costs were zero. I rode my bike to campus (about 7 miles, each direction) almost all days I attended.

The 2023 tuition and fees at UC, Irvine for an in-state student is about $15,000 per year (assuming you are covered by parents health insurance). Much to my surprise, the costs today are less than the inflation adjusted prices I paid decades earlier.

Compare that to private universities attended by many reporters, above (typically about $60k/year in tuition and fees, not including housing).

I paid for 100% of my college tuition, fees and books, myself, from money I earned and saved from working from age ten onward[1]. My parents helped me with room costs (I lived at home the first 2 years), and rent when I attended UC, Irvine.

I went to work immediately after graduation.

At age 41, I completed a Master of Business Administration degree at Gonzaga University, paid for myself.

At age 54, I completed a Master of Science degree in Software Engineering, from Regis University, which I also paid for myself. (While also paying the costs of my now 3 adult kids to attend universities, and for my wife to return to college as well.)

The tuition and fees for both of my Master’s degrees was around $24,000 to $28,000 each. (Compare to $100,000 or more at elite schools attended many of the reporters, above.)

These accomplishments were done after experiencing one 5″ skull fracture and 5 concussions – and never being diagnosed or treated for TBI until age 58. The lack of care was unfortunate, to put it mildly, and affected me for life, and put limitations on my career trajectory. If just one health care professional had asked me, “Have you ever had a head injury?”, but alas, not one ever did and I did not know to bring it up.

At age 63, I visited Europe for the first time, on a self directed trip to the Netherlands for two weeks. At age 64, I visited Norway (I have been studying the Norwegian language for some time).

I am leading life in backwards order from what I should have done – that is, I should have been treated for TBI when the worst injuries occurred (when I was young), then have gone to a name school, studied abroad, traveled, gotten graduate degrees when young and they have value. I’m doing life backwards – college, work, family – raised 3 now adult “kids”, then non-elite graduate degrees late in life, and then, some international experience really late in life, and finally getting treatment for brain injuries.

Hopefully I will catch up with my own peer group before I’m gone!

Most of this information is on my LinkedIn Profile.

[1] My parents were teens during The Great Depression and that profoundly influenced them in their values of work and saving money, and for having me work as a kid. By age ten I was doing yard work for many neighbors – mowing lawns, raking leaves, weeding, watering, ripping out plants for landscaping projects – and also taking care of yards when neighbors were away on vacation. My parents required that I save at least 50% of my earnings (in a bank account) for future college expenses. In fact, I learned to always save in advance for anything that was desired – and to avoid taking out loans.

By age 11, I had six “lawn jobs” and in junior high school, I had as many as 9 “lawn jobs”, especially during the late spring to early fall season. By age 14 or 15, I had a part time job at a textile store where I did the janitorial work of cleaning up, and warehouse work of moving heavy bolts of fabric around.

Because of my work schedule, I was not able to participate in extracurricular or social activities while in high school.

I left high school one year early and went straight to college. In college, I worked up to 18 hours per week at paying jobs. Eventually, I was hired as a student programming consultant, assisting other students with technical issues.

In the summer of my sophomore year, I worked at Amdahl Computer as an intern, and between my junior and senior year, I worked as a student programming consultant.

I paid for 100% of my own tuition, fees and books. My parents helped with my housing costs at UC Irvine. At the start of my junior year in college, I bought my first car, a used Toyota Corolla (paid for myself).

I saved so much in advance of college, worked while in college and lived at home for 2 years to save on costs – that I graduated with a money in my bank account, free of debts.

Immediately after college graduation, I began work as a computer engineer for a tech company.

About 20 years later, I returned to college and completed my MBA at Gonzaga University. Almost a dozen years later, I completed an MS in software engineering from the online Masters program at Regis University, Denver.

During this time, I paid costs of my wife going back to college to retrain from biochemistry into nursing, and for all 3 of our kids to attend public universities (2 of which also did study abroad programs – for one it was required for the major, and for the other it was a de facto requirement.)