From the ‘Technique’ to the ‘Wall Street Journal’

admin — Wed, 14 May 2025 17:02:41 +0000

From the ‘Technique’ to the ‘Wall Street Journal’ admin Wed, 05/14/2025 - 13:02

When Cole Murphy posted his last film blog for his high school newspaper, he assumed it would be his final foray into media as he prepared to study business at Georgia Tech.

The Alpharetta, Georgia, native never expected that, after graduating from the Institute, he would be moving to New York City to work for the Wall Street Journal as one of three recipients of the Joseph Rago Memorial Fellowship for Excellence in Journalism.

Murphy was intent on pursuing business strategy and finance opportunities, completing internships at VIVA Finance, an Atlanta startup, and The Home Depot during his first two years at Tech. Looking for a creative outlet and a break from his coursework, he published an op-ed in the Technique, Georgia Tech's student-run newspaper, and rediscovered a desire to write.

He became a regular in the paper's opinion section before becoming its entertainment editor and eventually the editor-in-chief after a summer internship in Washington, D.C. It was during his time in the nation's capital that Murphy says he was able to get a real-world education in journalism. He landed a job with The Dispatch as a reporter, and the pace of the industry is something that he wouldn't trade for anything.

"I love the energy of a newsroom. It's amazing to be around writers I've read for a long time and to be able to bounce ideas off them. When a big story is developing, everyone is talking about the same thing and finding different ways to cover it. There is nothing like it," he said.

Even as his career aspirations shifted, Murphy continued to dive deeper into the Scheller College of Business curriculum. With a strong interest in global politics and economics, his major gives him a unique outlook on current events and has shaped his reporting. Because Georgia Tech doesn't have a traditional journalism program, Murphy believes its student media benefits from having an "outsider perspective."

"Not many people come here thinking they'll go into journalism, so it pulls in a group of students, like myself, who seek out an opportunity to reconnect with writing or find a new passion,” he said. “It brings an authenticity that other student papers may not have. There was no one to teach us what kinds of questions to ask when reporting for a piece, so we just asked whatever we thought people would be interested in.”

Murphy walked across the stage at Commencement this spring and will begin his internship at the WSJ's opinion section in the fall after finishing his final courses this summer. The fellowship, which lasts nine months, is named in honor of Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial writer Joseph Rago, a member of the publication's editorial board who died in 2017 at the age of 34. To Murphy, journalism is "a craft as much as it is a job," but regardless of the subject matter, he wants readers to feel that anything he writes is guided by the principle of "telling the truth and backing it up with facts."

Subtitle

Business administration graduate Cole Murphy is one of three recipients of the 2025 Joseph Rago Memorial Fellowship for Excellence in Journalism.

Summary sentence

Business administration graduate Cole Murphy is one of three recipients of the 2025 Joseph Rago Memorial Fellowship for Excellence in Journalism.

Summary

Business administration graduate Cole Murphy is one of three recipients of the 2025 Joseph Rago Memorial Fellowship for Excellence in Journalism.

Dateline

Wed, 05/14/2025 - 12:00

Contact

Steven Gagliano – Institute Communications

Associated importer

Keywords

student media

the technique

News room topics

Campus and Community

‘Technique’ Editor to Represent Student Media With Debate Coverage

admin — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 22:40:41 +0000

‘Technique’ Editor to Represent Student Media With Debate Coverage admin Wed, 06/26/2024 - 18:40

Thursday, the nation will turn its attention to Atlanta for the first 2024 presidential debate. There will be no crowd inside the Warner Media campus on Techwood Drive, where the debate will take place, but the Technique's managing editor, Alec Grosswald, will be in the center of the media frenzy taking place across the street.

Granted a credential to attend media row and the spin room inside McCamish Pavilion alongside national and local media, Grosswald will provide live updates and a behind-the-scenes look inside the event on the publication's Instagram page. Additional updates will be posted to the paper’s website throughout the evening.

The third-year mechanical engineering student and his colleagues on the editorial board fielded policy questions from classmates with the intent of giving the student body a seat at the table.

"Our goal is to take students' questions and broadcast the answers from campaign surrogates in the spin room,” he said. “We want the students to have a voice. That's something we've discussed as young voters, and not feeling valued is a potential driving factor behind low youth voter turnout."

Leading into Thursday's debate coverage, the paper's editorial board shared one of its “consensus opinion” pieces outlining thoughts on the current state of youth voters in Georgia as the election cycle ramps up. The Technique will release a comprehensive recap early next week from Grosswald's coverage, complete with interviews and reactions.

The debate's proximity to campus created an opportunity for the student newspaper to garner real-world experience alongside journalists from around the world, and Grosswald is elated to represent the Technique on the floor.

"It's gratifying that bigger news organizations and institutions are recognizing the value of student media, and it's validating that we'll have the same opportunity to get answers for our audience,” he said. “This is a real opportunity to grow our platform and the voice of student media."

Thursday's debate will cause congestion throughout the Georgia Tech campus. Learn more about its impact on travel and parking here.

Subtitle

The student newspaper will provide a behind-the-scenes look at Thursday’s presidential debate.

Summary sentence

The student newspaper will provide a behind-the-scenes look at Thursday’s presidential debate.

Summary

The student newspaper will provide a behind-the-scenes look at Thursday’s presidential debate.

Dateline

Wed, 06/26/2024 - 12:00

Steven.gagliano@gatech.edu

Contact

Steven Gagliano - Institute Communications

Associated importer

Keywords

presidential debate

CNN

the technique

student media

News room topics

Campus and Community

student media

From the ‘Technique’ to the ‘Wall Street Journal’

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‘Technique’ Editor to Represent Student Media With Debate Coverage

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