Newhouse School of Communications

January 13, 2009

Jennifer Polland came to Newhouse in the summer of 2005 as a member of the inaugural class of the Goldring Arts Journalism program. “We were kind of the guinea pigs,” she joked.

She was attracted to the Goldring program because of its unique focus on arts and cultural journalism. “I had written theater reviews for my college paper, and I had always been interested in arts and culture, so when I found out about this new program it seemed like the perfect transition.”

Polland is originally from Long Island, and had just finished her undergraduate degree in liberal arts at Colgate University when she arrived at Newhouse for boot camp. After the rigorous summer session, Goldring program director Johanna Keller encouraged Polland to hit the ground running as soon as the fall semester started with an internship at The Post-Standard, Syracuse’s daily newspaper.

“That was one of the best things I did at Newhouse,” Polland said. As an arts and features intern at the paper, she wrote articles about opera, theater, and other cultural events in the region. She kept the internship for the entire academic year, which allowed her to build a strong portfolio of clips.

She credits the Goldring program for its practical focus, both in and out of the classroom. “It was particularly valuable to have specialists—artists, musicians, and others who are really knowledgeable in their fields—come in and teach us. The program really gives you a chance to learn from the experts themselves.”

Another highlight of the program for Polland was the program’s spring break trip to Ireland, where students toured a number of legendary literary and theater destinations. “We saw lots of shows and visited Oscar Wilde’s old stomping grounds. It was amazing that we got to do that,” she said.

When she finished the program in the summer of 2006, Polland took some much-needed time off. “I’d been going for five years straight with no break, so I went back to Long Island and relaxed for a bit before I threw myself into the job interview process.”

Once she was recharged, she conducted her job search through a combination of browsing popular media job websites (Mediabistro.com, journalismjobs.com) and contacting Newhouse alums and other arts journalism professionals that she had made contact with during her time in Syracuse.

The first job she took was as a reporter for The Queens Tribune, a weekly newspaper in New York City, where she worked on both arts and general assignments. “The paper has a very large circulation and a very small staff, so we all had to wear many hats. I covered a number of regions, and I wrote arts stories, feature stories, business stories, stories on gay issues…” she said.

After a few months at the job in Queens, Frommer’s, the travel guide publisher, contacted her for a job interview. (She had submitted an application for an editorial assistant position back when she was still on the job market.) After several interviews, she landed the job.

“Part of me was reluctant to take a position as an editorial assistant, since I came out of school with a master’s degree.” Polland said. “I’d already worked as a reporter and I didn’t really want to start back at the bottom. But you have to.” After a year in the position, during which she learned the inner workings of the publishing industry by handling administrative tasks ranging from sales to editorial, she was promoted to the position of assistant editor.

She now spends her days editing travel guides. Some of her recent projects include books on Toronto, Cape Cod, and Barcelona. She is responsible for finding writers for the guides and for seeing the products through all stages of production.

One of the particularly exciting perks of the position is the opportunity it affords her to travel. “The company encourages us to go to the destinations we’re editing ourselves, to make sure that all of our information is up to date and that we’re not missing anything that’s going on,” she said.

Polland says that travel has always been her passion, and she sees herself staying at Frommer’s for at least a few more years. After that, she imagines working for a travel magazine, or she may choose to stay in publishing.

When asked to name the best part of the Goldring Arts Journalism program, Polland doesn’t hesitate to name program director Johanna Keller. “She’s such an amazing resource. We still keep in touch even today. She’s just fantastic!”

Print Version