Holy Cross Alumni Working in Field of Journalism to Offer Insight and Advice to Students

WORCESTER, Mass. – Three alumni of the College of the Holy Cross who have enjoyed successful careers in the field of journalism will share their insight and offer advice to students during a talk titled "Careers in Broadcast and Print Journalism" on Jan. 25 from 7 to 9 p.m in the Hogan Campus Center, Room 304.

The three guests, along with a brief biography, are:

Jim Farrell ’81 writes primarily about education for the Hartford Courant and is also a writing teacher at Manchester (Conn.) Community College. The experience he gained working at The Crusader helped Jim land a job in journalism as a sportswriter at the Concord Monitor in New Hampshire. He went on to work at the Miami Herald and has held a number of reporting and editorial positions during almost 20 years in Hartford, including deputy editor of Northeast Magazine in the Sunday Courant.

Annie Rourke ’93 is a reporter for NBC30 in Hartford, Conn., covering stories throughout the state for the evening newscasts. She worked at KVBC in Las Vegas as the MSNBC anchorwoman and producer. She served as an anchor at an ABC affiliate in Charleston, S.C., covering stories such as Hurricane Floyd and the detention of POWs at Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Joe Shortsleeve ’79 is chief correspondent for CBS4 News in Boston, developing and reporting stories of long-term significance such as the proposed wind farm in Nantucket Sound. At Holy Cross, Joe was involved at WCHC all four years, rising to news director and assistant general manager. Joe held a number of positions as a reporter, producer and weekend anchor before joining CBS4 in 1990.

The panel will be moderated by Gary Santaniello ’79 who works as a freelance writer and adjunct professor at Elms College in Chicopee. At Holy Cross, Gary was sports editor of The Crusader and worked part time at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette and summers at the Norwich Bulletin. He was a sportswriter for the Syracuse Herald-Journal, Telegram & Gazette and Detroit Free Press before starting the alternative weekly newspaper Casco Bay Weekly in Portland, Maine, with a partner in 1987. He was a managing editor at Beckett Publications in Dallas for six years starting in 1991, and then returned to New England in 1997 as an editor and managing editor at the New York Times Magazine Company’s golf publications in Trumbull, Conn.

NOTE TO PHOTOGRAPHERS: Please call Nikolas Markantonatos at 508-793-2419 to make arrangements to attend this event.