She liked what she learned in Walt Harrington’s journalism class so much the first time, Meg Graham went back for more — again and again.
“I ended up taking three of them,” the 2012 journalism grad and Ad Age alumna says from New York, where she covers the advertising and marketing industries for CNBC.
“He taught one on the ‘Great Books of Journalism,’ where we read books from Ida Tarbell, David Halberstam, John McPhee, Isabel Wilkerson and other legends.
"He also taught a literary feature-writing story, which, after a bruising D on a first draft, ended up being one of the most influential classes in the ways I think about research, sourcing, interviewing, fact-checking and the rhythm of writing.
“There, we were introduced to Joan Didion, April Witt, Lane DeGregory and a trove of other writers whose work I still turn to when I need a reminder that factual writing can come to life with detail and observation.
“These days, my writing is mostly about business, but I still mentally — and electronically — thank Professor Harrington from time to time for showing us that journalism can be functional, but it is often better served when it’s also beautiful.”
