Rutgers alum returns as ‘Journalist in Residence’
Archived article from Apr 26, 2004
By Robin Warshaw
As the North Jersey Media Group’s Journalist in Residence at Rutgers this semester, Tom Davis brings real-world experience to teaching news reporting and writing. Yet he relates to his students’ point of view as well: The class he teaches is one he took as a Rutgers undergraduate in 1986.
Davis, who was a news editor at The Daily Targum on the New Brunswick/Piscataway campus, graduated in 1989 with a twin major in journalism and English. He’s now a reporter and columnist with The Record of Bergen County.
The Journalist in Residence fellowship, first awarded in fall 2003, brings a staffer from the North Jersey press chain to Rutgers for a semester. The recipient teaches a course, attends another and participates in campus journalism activities. Herb Jackson, former Trenton bureau chief for The Record, was the program’s first fellow. Davis is the second.
“The students really value the complement between the academic perspective and the professional,” says John V. Pavlik, professor and chair, department of journalism and media studies, School of Communication, Information and Library Studies.
In his newspaper work, Davis covers the military, Hackensack and other towns, and writes a column (“Coping”) on mental illness and addiction. He’s reported on the 101st Airborne Division, zoning fights, the homeless and his own struggles with bulimia.
“I always thought that if I didn’t want to be a reporter, I’d teach,” says Davis, whose father was a Brick township teacher and principal for 45 years. “I used to pretend to be a teacher when I was a kid. Over the years, I’ve always helped out younger colleagues of mine.”
Now teaching for the first time, Davis is pleased with his students’ progress. “Several with strengths in music and sports have shown the ability to transfer those strengths to writing a story,” he says.
What’s more, the students have given him insight into how the public perceives the press.
“I feel like my vision has been too narrow,” he says. Teaching has “made me a better person, a better reporter. In a way, I’m teaching myself as well.”
As part of the fellowship, Davis attends a graduate-level course on media ethics. He hopes to use what he learns to address ethical issues that arise while covering mental health stories.
Davis grew up in Point Pleasant and now lives in Metuchen with his wife and two children. He’s won several journalism awards, including a 2003 first-place award from the New Jersey Press Association. Before coming to The Record in 2001, he worked for several other state newspapers, including The Press of Atlantic City, The Ocean County Observer and The Princeton Packet.
|
