By Rory McNelley, Staff Writer

Xavier alumna and reporter for The Washington Post Tatum Hunter visited Xavier’s campus last Friday to share about her experience in journalism and offer advice to current students.

Hunter served as a staff writer at the Xavier Newswire her first and second years, the Opinions & Editorials page editor her third year and Editor-in-Chief her fourth year. She graduated in 2016 as an economics, English and theatre triple major.

Not planning on pursuing a career in journalism, Hunter did not get her first writing job until age 26. Hunter moved around the country after graduation doing free-lance journalism work until she landed a job at the New York Times. After reporting on venture capital news, she moved into working with The Washington Post in San Francisco. She now covers internet culture. 

“I think having an education that really focused on critical thinking enables me to do my work. You can’t be a journalist if you can’t write and think clearly,” Hunter said. “I am so grateful for all the writing that I did in Xavier English classes. It is a really writing-heavy curriculum, and my education at Xavier took into account that there is a moral reality which gives heart to the work and a reason to care about it,” Hunter said about Xavier’s role in preparing her for her professional career. 

“It is always nice to hear from people who have graduated. It is a relief to know that it’s going to work out. Tatum really eased my worry around finding a job after college. Hearing how her Xavier education helped her is very reassuring,” first-year political science major Peyton Travis said.

Hunter urged students not to worry about finding a job after graduation.

“Whether you are trying to get a job in the media, I think ‘fake it til you make it’ is a really important thing,” Hunter said. 

Hunter spoke in two sessions on the first floor of the McDonald Library on Friday and advised students to tackle writing head-on. She has found that the main work of a reporter is to take complicated concepts and make them clear. 

Hunter reports on consumer technology and has recently seen AI highly impacting the field.

“When you are writing in this field of technology where there seems to be something new every day, it’s important to stay on top of that,” Hunter said. “And of course, reading your competitors’ stories and seeing what news they are breaking and always looking to be the one to break news of your own.”

Hunter emphasized the value of her Jesuit education and her support of the Jesuit mission. She stressed wanting students interested in journalism to know that coming from a school without a journalism degree is not necessarily a bad thing.

“Coming from a school that doesn’t have a journalism degree can be helpful to you,” Hunter said. “Write about your interests and passions, things you enjoy talking about. It will make the writing more influential for the reader and more enjoyable for you to write.”