Creighton University - Bluejay Yearbook (Omaha, NE)

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Concerts j 25

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Lectures. Films f 24

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Mary Alice Williams, vice president and an- chorwoman for Cable News Network (CNN) in New York, visited Creighton in February and spoke to two journalism classes, answering questions about the life of a television jour- nalist. Williams was a 1971 Creighton graduate and was in Omaha before going to Lincoln for the posthumous induction of her uncle, the Rev. Roswell C. Williams, S.J., into the Nebraska Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame. Williams answered questions in both classes concerning her work, how she began and the future for young aspiring journalists. Society is not the sme as it was in the 1970s, she said. You (student journalists) have an advantage because you ' re competiung on your own merits regardless of your color, background, age or sex. It ' s a much better way to compete. When asked how she began in journalism, WilHams said I wanted to write a novel. She said she was als o influenced by her uncle, Creighton ' s television priest. I wanted to be a witness, meet these peo- ple, she said. Besides reporting, Williams runs the New York Bureau of CNN, setting policy and work- ing in sales. She said, though, much of her work is not reporting and it ' s not all glamorous. Many decisions or problems are routine, such as making sure the hall in the studio has been painted, she said. But she said, It ' s all fun, and she enjoys meeting the people who make decisions over budgets and deficits, referring to the world ' s newsmakers. After graduating from Creighton, Williams went to KSTP-TV in St. Paul, Minn., as the newscast producer. At that time there were few women in television, she said. She then went to New York and became a writer at WPIX-TV. She left two years later to become a television news reporter at WNBC- TV, the NBC a ffiliate in New York. In 1980, Williams joined up with Ted Turner in a seven-person project forming CNN, of which she became bureau chief. Two years later she became vice president. Williams said that Creighton prepared her well for her career, and that the school has an excellent reputation through the country. She said the school encourages leadership and trhat the small group competitiveness and interac- tion is much more intense. Creighton, she said, also taught her how to think, study and take a test. Everything ' s a test, she said. Through Creighton ' s training, I can look at myself in the mirror and say how well I did, or if I blew it today. Mary Alice wm ams 26