Research Fellows at the duPont-Columbia Awards
Through a competitive annual process, two Columbia Journalism School graduate students are selected to work for the duPont-Columbia Center. From September through May, the two research fellows are an integral part of the duPont Awards, liaising with their classmates and visiting journalists, assisting with duPont-Columbia Center public events and carrying out special projects.
The duPont-Columbia Center is proud of our network of research fellow alumni and the work they have gone on to pursue.
Monica Alba, duPont Fellow 2011-2012
Julie Percha, duPont Fellow 2011-2012
BLOG: Fellows on the Move
In this occasional blog series, current research fellows catch up with alumni to find out where they are now, and how their Columbia experience has impacted their careers.
3/12/2012 - INTERVIEW: Natasha Rudnick, Writer and Television Producer
In March 2012, Monica Alba, 2011-2012 duPont-Columbia graduate research fellow, spoke with Natasha Rudnick, CUJ broadcast ‘08. Rudnick was a graduate research fellow from 2007 to 2008. A native of Toronto, Canada, Rudnick has freelanced for newspapers and magazines on both sides of the border. She has also worked as a producer and assignment editor for CBS News. She recently moved back to Toronto and currently works for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and is also a contributor to the Huffington Post. She spoke to Monica about her experiences as a J-schooler and duPont fellow.
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Natasha Rudnick | Photo: Erin Smith
Monica Alba: What’s your favorite duPont memory?
Natahsa Rudnick: It was such a privilege to be present for the duPont jury deliberations. To be in the company of those jurors and to hear their process in whittling down the nominees to get the winners was so informative and also taught me so much about narrative storytelling. The discussions that the jurors got into really allowed me to see the pieces differently and gave me an insight into what it took to create them. I remember my year there was an entry about the origins of Al Qaeda and Islamic fundamentalism. Listening to the jurors suss out what was involved to go so deeply into this subject gave me a newfound appreciation for how much work went into this level of storytelling.
MA: Looking back, what’s a lesson you cherish from your time at the J-school?
NR: Being in the middle of that tempest for the year, I made some of the most important relationships of my life. To me, that’s the beauty of Columbia: the legacy of the relationships that were made here and I believe they’re going to continue for years and years to come. On a lighter note, I learned something very important from my very first radio assignment for RW1. Something went wrong with the recorder and I came back with no audio. It’s funny now but that little thing has made me so paranoid professionally in terms of always having batteries and making sure I have directions and contact numbers for everything. That feeling of getting back into the classroom and realizing I had no story stayed with me. As a producer, I know now how important it is to make sure you’ve crossed every ‘t’ and dotted every ‘i’ before you leave for a shoot.
MA: What’s your greatest advice to current students?
NR: The most amazing thing in journalism right now is the amount of crossover that’s taking place. Networks aren't just hiring on-camera reporters and producers. They’re hiring writers for online. Newspapers are hiring producers to shoot video. Every journalist needs to be able to shift between these areas and it’s something I’d advise everyone to get comfortable with. Being able to shift between the different kinds of mediums and not think ‘I'm just a print journalist’ or ‘I’m just a television journalist’ but really embrace the fact that you can tell a story through a lot of different lenses. It’s a challenge to do that but it’s great fun too. The more ways you can tell a story, the better. Realizing that those boundaries don't exist anymore and being able to float between them is a skill that’s going to serve you so well in the future.
MA: What’s it like to work at one of the big networks like CBS?
NR: I had a special affinity for CBS because I grew up watching 60 Minutes and the CBS Evening News. I had interned with them and was hired as an assignment editor right after graduation. It was an amazing privilege to work at CBS in New York because you’re in the middle of every big story. There is nothing quite like being in the middle of breaking news. And no better feeling that being a a witness to history.
Past Interviews
2/14/2012 - Suzanne Malveaux, CNN Newsroom Anchor
