Former Club presidents cite expertise, flexibility, good writing as keys to journalism success

A panel of former National Press Club presidents told an audience of journalism students to develop expertise, be flexible and write well to build their careers at a Dec. 16 NPC Journalism Institute event.

Myron Belkind, former AP bureau chief in New Delhi, London and Tokyo and 2014 Club president, said journalists traditionally were trained to be generalists.

But today, having a specialty, such as business writing, is an advantage. Science journalism is another growing niche, he said.

There's more to career success than subject-matter expertise, the former Club presidents said.

"A lot of what journalism now is who you are," said Angela Greiling Keane, Bloomberg News White House correspondent and 2013 Club president. "You are your own brand."

That is true whether the journalist is working for one employer or freelancing, she said, reminding freelancers to "never work for free."

Alan Bjerga, Bloomberg News agricultural reporter, 2010 Club president and moderator of the discussion, said he tries to be the person everyone on his beat talks to by avoiding identification with any one position or point of view.

Gil Klein, Club president in 1994 and former general correspondent at Media General News Service, which provided stories to 23 Southern newspapers, lost his job as the industry changed.

He was told that nobody was going to hire him at his age, but that "everybody needs what you can do. Become a consultant."

He emphasized the importance of networking -- both to build sources and to make professional contacts.

Having the flexibility to follow new paths led Belkind and Greiling Keane to their careers.

Belkind intended to return to his home town of Cleveland after Columbia Journalism School but was awarded an international traveling fellowship that led him into 42 years of international reporting.

Greiling Keane asked her employer for a new path without specifying it and learned the position of White House correspondent was open.

"Find a way to say yes," whether to a career challenge or to a story idea, she told the journalism students. "Find a way to make it work."

All panelists agreed that writing well is critical to a journalist.

Finally, the panelists noted that journalism is more than a job.

"The great thing about journalism is that you never know what's going to happen when you go to work in the morning," Klein said.

Belkind added, "Journalism gives you experiences that all the money in the world cannot buy."

Belkind, Bjerga and Klein teach journalism part-time at George Washington University, Georgetown University and American University, respectively.