By Meg Owen

On July 6, UW journalism students were given a glimpse of life after college when UW alumni Neil McReynolds visited their class. McReynolds shared tales stories of his varied career.

McReynolds graduated from the School of Communications with a major in journalism, as most of the students in the class will be doing soon. Upon graduation he was offered a job at the Wall Street Journal, which he passed up because he wanted to go into newspaper management. Instead he took a job at the Bellevue American newspaper, now the King County Journal.

“I wanted to be able to run a paper and own my own newspaper someday,” said McReynolds. “So I went to Bellevue and it was great. It worked out just the way I wanted it to. I wound up as editor after four years.”

After working at the Bellevue paper for 11 years, McReynolds received a surprise call from Gov. Dan Evans, who asked if he would be interested in working as his press secretary. However, McReynolds was skeptical of the seemingly spontaneous call.

“I told him I’m a journalist and don’t trust any politician,” said McReynolds.

Despite this, McReynolds decided to leave the Bellevue newspaper and take the job with Evans.

McReynolds added, “It sounded intriguing and he was a very interesting guy.”

McReynolds shared several stories about his time working as Evans’ press secretary. One of his most intriguing experiences was having the opportunity to go to the National Republican Convention in which Evans was the keynote speaker. While there, Evans made the decision to endorse Nelson Rockefeller instead of the clear favorite, Richard Nixon, for the presidency. If Evans hadn’t made that decision, he would have had a good chance of ending up on the Republican ticket with Nixon.

Although Evans never made it to the White House, McReynolds did have an offer to go there himself. After six years of working for Evans, McReynolds had a job offer to work as the Deputy White House Press Secretary under Nixon. When several of his newspaper friends gave him tips about something not quite right at the White House, McReynolds turned the job down. A few months later, the Watergate scandal erupted.

“It was one of those fortunate decisions one makes,” said McReynolds. “It would have been nice under the right president.”

It was probably fortunate for McReynolds that he didn’t take the White House job. He told the class that his wife of 48 years said she’d divorce him if he ever went into politics.

“I’ve been involved in the public arena in many ways without being an elected official,” he said.

McReynolds always intended to return to journalism. However, other career opportunities kept him busy. He worked for ITT Corp. as the regional manager and dealt with media issues as well as other responsibilities for the company.

“I was in half a dozen different industries every day, which was just a great learning experience.”

McReynolds left ITT Corp. after seven years when his supervisors wanted to transfer him to New York City.

“I have no desire to go back to a flat place,” said McReynolds, an avid mountain climber, in response to the offer to transfer.

Some of his other career paths included working for Puget Sound Energy and Group Health. He also described his experiences working on various boards of companies and organizations.

“I’ve been on 50 boards over the years. Most are nonprofit, but also included boards for for-profit, trade associations and higher education,” said McReynolds.

When asked how a student could become a board member of a company or organization, McReynolds said, “If you’re really interested in getting on a board, get involved in an organization.”

Since many of the students in the class are currently writing for local newspapers, McReynolds shared his experiences of working for a local paper in Edmonds during his high school years. He wrote sports for the newspaper, and the editor paid him by the inch.

“I got my first car getting paid by the inch,” he said.

A major aspect of a journalism career is learning to manage time, but when asked how he manages his time, McReynolds did not have any reassuring advice for the students. He said he still hasn’t learned to manage his time.

“I think I probably manage my time pretty well, I just try to do too many things,” said McReynolds. “I have an outspoken wife who keeps my life in balance.”

Even though he is retired, McReynolds shows no signs of slowing down. He currently is the president of McReynolds Associates, Inc, a firm that advises companies on how to create an effective board. He also teaches corporate governance in the Graduate School of Business at the University of Washington, chairs one corporate board and serves on two others, and is a partner in a venture capital firm.

Outside of work, McReynolds continues to keep active as well. He climbs mountains with his two children and is a runner. He ran a 5K on the Fourth of July.

“It’s easy to win prizes at my age too; not too many of us left (in our age category),” said McReynolds.

McReynolds wanted to return to journalism, but he never did. He said that he has always been a curious person, and new and exciting opportunities always stopped him from returning to the newsroom.

“These new things come along, and I’m really blessed, I never had to look for a job,” he said.

McReynolds’ visit to the journalism class gave students an idea of the varied career choices that they will have the opportunity to explore, whether or not they are in the newspaper industry.

 

Meg Owen is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.