World of opportunity
About one week before the end of finals last semester, I received an email with a vague statement about a reporting opportunity at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Of course, as any journalism student with a thirst for reporting would do, I jumped at the chance to travel and cover a major world event. I knew it would be an amazing experience — I just didn’t know it would be quite so amazing.
Once everything had been put in order, I traveled to Switzerland in January with a company called The Female Quotient, which focuses on supporting women in business and in media. I worked for five days in their lounge in Davos, surrounded by major names and political leaders.
My role with the team was to perform on-camera interviews for AT&T’s Snowcap Series, take diligent notes of the panels and produce daily recaps. I was incredibly lucky to be able to interview women like Tina Brown, former editor of The New Yorker and Vanity Fair.
Although the interviews became my favorite part of the job, the panelists alone were worth the trip to Switzerland. Among Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnists and notable Editors-in-Chief were political celebrities as well, including foreign princesses and former presidents.
As a journalist and as a woman, it was inspiring to hear from women who had found success in journalism careers. According to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, only slightly more than one-third of newsroom employees are women. I will be graduating in a few months, and it was heartening to meet and network with women who had not only traversed this field, but also found success in it.
Although it was one week of work, I am most grateful for the people that I met and the wonderful, welcoming team I worked with. I’m grateful that Moody College’s School of Journalism passed on this opportunity to me.
London Gibson is a journalism student at the Moody College of Communication. She is also a projects reporter at The Daily Texan and is on track to graduate this May.
