Journalist Tom Herman '64 Speaks to Grytte Staff

The last few weeks have been busy and exciting ones for the Grytte newspaper staff. The boys recently enjoyed a luncheon with R. Thomas Herman ’64, former reporter and columnist at The Wall Street Journal and a Browning Trustee for over 30 years. This luncheon followed the latest release of the student newspaper to the Browning community and alumni who attended the Thanksgiving Assembly and Holiday Party.

Mr. Herman, who spoke at the Class of 2000 Distinguished Speaker Series earlier this fall, sat down with the boys to provide a detailed critique of their latest issue. He shared his history as a member of the Grytte staff when a student and gave a PowerPoint presentation concerning “best practices” in journalism.

Grytte advisor Jeremy Katz '04 reported that the boys were eager to soak up Mr. Herman’s pearls of wisdom from his years as a journalist and asked him his opinion on how to overcome certain hurdles when writing a story. Mr. Herman was thrilled to answer the boys’ questions and was quite impressed by the age range of the Grytte staff, with members as young as fifth grade all the way up to Form VI!

The Grytte recently garnered a Silver Medalist Certificate from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) as part of its annual critique of student publications. CSPA is affiliated with the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University. Grytte Editor-in-chief Philip '14 stated that his team hopes to incorporate the advice given to them, such as incorporating a new mission statement in future issues in 2014.