The New York Times national politics reporter and host of “The Run Up” podcast Astead Herndon gave Professor Anna Sterling’s Reporting and Writing 1 class a tour of the New York Times newsroom last month.
The class first took a walk around the newsroom, getting a glimpse into where the reporters record live election updates in November, create content for the audio/visual department, and where the Pulitzer Prize winners are announced every year. They were also given a tour of the Times’ in-house museum, observing relics of the publication’s history; it featured a guest book signed by Martin Luther King Jr., a camera lens from the Times reporter who photographed the Jan. 6th insurrection, and a grandfather clock that belonged to Adolph Ochs, who bought the Times in 1896, among other artifacts.
The class then participated in a conversation with Herndon discussing his career as a journalist, work/life balance, and bringing political journalism to a wider audience. Herndon previously worked as a campaign reporter on Kamala Harris’ 2019 presidential campaign before moving to the audio/visual department to host the Times’ political podcast, “The Run Up.” He advised the class to remain adaptable in today’s changing media climate, pointing out the strengths of emerging forms of media, citing online streamers such as Hasan Piker, with whom he has recorded in the past.
Though Herndon transitioned from written to primarily audio/visual journalism, he doesn’t have a preference – they’re equally important, he says, but for different reasons. While print journalism leaves room for elaboration and depth, audio/visual elements are able to serve the story in a way words can’t.
Herndon cited his personal experience: for one piece, he attended a Jason Aldean concert to talk to fans about Aldean’s song “Try That in a Small Town” and the 2024 election. During one interview, a participant made a racially offensive comment towards Herndon. In the final piece, he wasn’t allowed to explicitly state that the comment was racist, a constriction that initially frustrated Herndon. He said he later came to realize that the audio clip was freestanding – he didn’t have to describe it as racist, because the comment spoke for itself.
Herndon also used the anecdote to emphasize the importance of knowing when to pick your battles, of understanding when to let the work stand alone and when to insert yourself into the story – an important lesson for young journalists. Instead of inserting his own commentary, Herndon let the participants’ quotes do the talking to highlight how American country music fans were looking at the then-upcoming election. “Our superpower [as journalists] is in elevating other people,” he told the class. “It’s bigger than you or me.”
