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With more than 15 years of experience in broadcast news, strategic communications and public relations, Janelle Bass Hawthorne, MBA '10, has advice to share with students aspiring to get into the field.
As managing editor for News 5 Cleveland WEWS-TV, Janelle Bass Hawthorne, MBA '10, holds a key newsroom management position, overseeing the reporting staff of Cleveland's ABC affiliate.
She has an Edward R. Murrow Award and four Emmys to show for her work in television news, but like most broadcast journalists, she started small.
Hawthorne began her career at a television station in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 2006, eventually producing weekend newscasts. She went on to work in Columbus, Ohio, prior to enrolling in graduate school at Baldwin Wallace.
Juggling diverse jobs, she did double duty as a wedding planner and assignment editor for a television station in North Carolina, where she says she developed the people skills that transferred to her current post as managing editor.
She told an interviewer for the Spectrum Podcast series that working as a wedding planner also taught her how to manage high stress with couples looking to create the perfect day to get married. She now uses those skills when managing the newsroom.
Being a woman in the field has its challenges, but Hawthorne has faced additional challenges as a Black woman in media management.
"Some employees have balked at taking direction from a woman who is Black," Hawthorne shared with Spectrum, highlighting the struggles women face in the field, especially Black women and other people of color. However, Bass does not let this impact her work or bring her down.
"Prejudice cannot get in the way of delivering the news," she stated, and when gender or racial issues occur, news colleagues can sort out the issues after the job is complete.
Bass put her passion for storytelling and working for racial equity to work by leading the implementation of a new series, "Delivering Better Results," to highlight racial disparities in the maternal mortality rate in Northeast Ohio.
In her current role as managing editor with News 5 Cleveland, she manages the reporters, photographers and story content.
She shoulders many tasks, from informing and inspiring her team to supervising the assignment desk, content planning and resources for the newsroom. On news-breaking days, her job is akin to managing organized chaos, but she works to stay level-headed and ready for the next task.
Bass shared, "There is no time to be bored or to rest." Every day is different.
Another recent project is a podcast that is part of the television station's course on all digital media: print, social media, podcasting and video.
The experience and skills Bass gained through her many years of working in television, strengthened by a Baldwin Wallace MBA that gave her a big picture of business management, have helped her flourish in the field and overcome any challenges she has faced.
Journalism, Hawthorne says, is her passion. However, gaining her MBA at BW gave her the knowledge to understand the business side of her industry and taught her how to better manage staff to deliver a superior news product and run an exceptional newsroom.
