On Friday, March 3, students from the Video and Broadcast class and several members of the Haven Yearbook and Panther Press staffs gathered in the studio to meet and talk with Mr. David Boardman.

Boardman is the dean of Temple’s Klein College of Media & Communications and founding chair of the Lenfest Institute for Journalism. He came to speak about his experience in the field to students interested in pursuing journalism and multimedia after graduation.

The meeting started out with a video about student journalism at Haven produced by senior Sylvan Prey-Harbaugh to commemorate Scholastic Journalism Week, which took place from February 20-24, 2023.

The room was abuzz with students asking questions about bias, coverage, and emotional aspects of news. Pens and notebooks were out on the table to scribble everything Boardman had to advise about journalism.

Boardman previously served as executive editor and senior Vice President of The Seattle Times. Under his leadership, the newspaper received four Pulitzer Prizes and produced 10 Pulitzer finalists.

One story that resonated with students was Boardman’s description of more than two years of investigative reporting on allegations of sexual assault against Sen. Brock Adams. The Seattle Times story resulted in Adams ending his bid for re-election in 1992.

“It was interesting getting to know his life a bit more… Especially the [story] that took him two years to write,” sophomore Kelly Montague said. “I thought that was insane because it was such a hard-hitting story.”

Students left the meeting with Mr. Boardman with new insight into opportunities that might spark from a major in media and communications, as well as into the world of professional journalism.

“I think the biggest takeaway is that there are people behind every story that we learn or hear,” junior Bailey Hansen said. “And it’s important to evaluate how they’re feeling, how it’s affecting them, and how the story can help them.”