Kathleen McElroy, senior editor of the New York Times, shared the secrets of her success with communications majors Friday, April 13, in Hilliard Hall.McElroy, a Houston native, has worked for the New York Times since 1991 and served as deputy sports editor, associate managing editor and editor of the dining section.
Her success plan included commitment, responsibility, believing in your own abilities and making good decisions.
“Being in journalism is like making a million value judgments,” said McElroy.
McElroy previously worked for The National, Newsday, Austin American-Statesman, Huntsville Item and Bryan/College Station Eagle. She obtained her B.A. in broadcast journalism from Texas A&M University.
As she spoke about ethical writing, the first step she advised students to make was figuring out everything they knew and didn’t.
“You don’t have to be objective. Nobody has to be objective,” McElroy stressed. “All you gotta do is be fair.”
She advised that students volunteer to write stories for out of town newspapers and explained that journalism is the basis for any career in the media industry.
“I hope students realize that journalism is a worthy profession,” said McElroy.
“If you apply good sense, dignity and fairness to everything you do, you’ll feel good about yourself and that can only benefit journalism and the world.