Spotlight on Alumni Media

Singapore American School alumni have achieved notable success in the fields of print and broadcast journalism. From morning show producers to data analysts, our amazing Eagles share what it is like to be part of the media world!

Kathleen Kelley Rushlow (Class of 1976)

senior producer at National Public Radio

In February of 1972, when I was an eighth grade student at SAS, our English teacher assigned the class a newspaper unit as a way to boost our writing skills. The timing of this writing project could not have been better. Queen Elizabeth II was making her first state visit to Singapore and I was assigned to write about it. I sometimes wonder if that is how the spark of journalism was planted in me.

I attended the University of Maryland at College Park where I received my bachelor’s degree in radio, television, and film. I worked for multiple radio news stations after graduating—WTOP radio, NBC-MUTUAL Radio Networks, Unistar Radio Network, and finally National Public Radio (NPR). I have been at NPR for over 25 years.

My job is to program the news for the top and bottomof-the-hour newscasts that air during NPR’s Morning Edition. I decide the stories, the reporters, and all the sound. I also direct anchors who read the news to help ensure that breaking stories are included, and I guide the editor and audio producer as they help prepare the twice-an-hour news program. Due to the pandemic, I’m currently doing this from my dining room table.

The newscasts that I produce have been rebranded as NPR NEWS NOW. We are now rated the number one podcast in the United States. It is a bit of a shock to learn how popular we are, especially as we now have a younger audience. At NPR we pride ourselves on always double-checking our facts. We are fast, but not at the expense of accuracy. We’ve always worked this way, and it seems more important now than ever.

My advice to aspiring journalists is to ensure you are working with people who only want facts. Avoid getting yourself involved with organizations that prefer some bias in their news coverage. We need truth in this world, especially now.

Brittany Dawe (Class of 2010)

morning show producer at CNBC

I have always had a fascination for current events, news media, and production, but I did not think that I would end up in journalism. I studied at the University of British Columbia where I majored in political science. While at university, I interned for a summer at a film studio, learning the business side of production, and I took a part-time internship at one of the local news networks shortly after. Following graduation, I moved back to Singapore to intern with CNBC’s news editorial team. CNBC ended up having all the aspects I enjoyed when it came to business, news, and production.

I am currently a producer for CNBC’s flagship morning show, Squawk Box, a news program that goes live Monday through Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. We cover financial markets, economics, and a bit of politics. My typical day starts at 3:00 a.m. I have three hours to read, write, put together the rundown, talk to reporters, edit video, and book guests. During the show, I am in the control room speaking with the talent and dealing with any last minute changes to the rundown. It’s an extremely fast-paced, challenging, and rewarding work environment. No two days are ever the same!

I’ve learned that producing is a leadership position. When you're in the morning meeting, or building the rundown, or in the control room, you have to know what you want and be decisive enough to make sure it gets done. But you also have to listen. At SAS, I learned that through sports. Ever since I can remember I always had an affinity toward group sports—a group of people working competitively towards a common goal. Looking back I realize how many of the same skills needed to be a good captain of a sports team are similar to the skills needed to be a good producer—decisiveness, motivating others, and leading by example. Being the team captain of the varsity soccer and softball teams at SAS taught me a lot of those skills!

To anyone considering a job in news production, my best advice would be to look for internships early on. No better way to see if it is a right fit than by getting your feet wet!

Lourdes Santos (Class of 2010)

senior digital data analyst at THE GLOBE AND MAIL

After graduating from SAS in 2010, I was offered a scholarship to study liberal arts at Waseda University in Tokyo. After one semester I realized I wanted to switch to a science major, but because the English offerings were limited, I had to look elsewhere. I then transferred to the University of Toronto, where I double-majored in chemistry and biology.

After graduating, I ended up working for an advertising technology startup in Singapore as a business analyst. This was the beginning of my interest in data analytics and led me to later pursue my master’s degree in business analytics.

In May 2019, I landed a job as a data analyst at The Globe and Mail, one of Canada’s national news publishers. The Globe and Mail was a big surprise because they are very forward-thinking in the industry. They developed their own holistic scoring model to predict the success of an article and have leveraged machine learning and artificial intelligence in creating a suite of products to automate and drive subscriptions. The team responsible was so successful that they now sit under a separate arm called Sophi, and have since won numerous awards and global clientele.

As a senior digital data analyst, I work with clients from The Globe and Sophi, and I help them in identifying digital trends and insights that drive subscriptions and retain existing subscribers. This involves building automated reports, dashboards, and data models from large amounts of web data and working with stakeholders to help them understand the data.

My advice for those who are interested in data analytics is to build up your projects and get some experience, even if it’s unpaid, like reaching out to a small business and helping to set up their website for analytics. Analytics is not just about technical skills; developing communication and interpersonal skills are just as important.

Akane Otani (Class of 2010)

reporter at THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

I went to Cornell University, where I majored in English. I wrote stories for Cornell’s campus newspaper and, after many rejections, landed an internship the summer after sophomore year at CBS Chicago. That summer cemented my decision to be a journalist.

As a reporter at The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), my job involves interviewing traders, investors, and analysts, writing stories about fast-changing trends in global markets and economics, contributing to our podcasts and videos, and occasionally appearing on outlets like MSNBC, CNN, the BBC, and CNBC to talk about my stories.

Here is some advice I have for aspiring journalists: 1. Be patient. Getting your foot in the door can take time. I applied for WSJ's summer internship program multiple times before I finally ended up getting an offer. 2. Gain experience. Make sure you get as much experience in a newsroom as possible during college. 3. Be prepared. Every internship or job interview I have been on has involved me sharing my writing samples and my ideas for new stories. Make sure you come in prepared and armed with a sense of curiosity. 4. Your major is not an issue. You do not have to major in a specific subject area to write about it. My liberal arts education helped me realize I can learn about new topics quickly, which is probably one of the most important skills a journalist can have.

One unfortunate feature of the journalism industry is that internships are not only incredibly competitive but also, in most cases, unpaid. Some require you to have previous experience to apply. The good news is that many organizations recognize this is a critical problem that contributes to inequity in the industry, and offer networking events, resume-critiquing workshops, and stipends to students who otherwise would not be able to take on an internship. Take advantage of these groups. And do not be shy about reaching out to journalists. I talk to a number of students and aspiring journalists every year who have reached out to me asking for help—most of us are more than happy to chat!

My music classes and ensembles had the greatest impact on me during my time at SAS. They did not teach me how to write a news article, but long hours in practice rooms and rehearsals taught me grit and perseverance—two qualities that are crucial to “making it” in the journalism industry. The requirement to do group and individual presentations in classes also helped me come out of my shell. Every single music performance or class presentation I was involved in at SAS helped me develop the confidence to write and speak on complex topics with authority, sometimes in front of huge audiences.