Pressing for Associated Press reporter Susan Haigh ’89 is a pillar of the fourth estate

By Laura Pedulli

While on her last day of vacation in Wellfleet, Mass., a quiet town on Cape Cod, the roar of sirens from a fleet of ambulances tipped off Susan Haigh ’89 that something was wrong. A longtime journalist for The Associated Press, Haigh is accustomed to serving as the eyes and ears of the community.

The ambulances led her to a tragic site: the first fatal shark attack in Massachusetts since 1936.

“I wasn’t working, but I interviewed people at the scene and began phoning in details to my editor in Boston. It was pretty traumatic,” she recalled.

In her September 2018 news story of the incident that claimed the life of a 26-yearold man, she wrote:

“Joe Booth, a local fisherman and surfer, said he was on shore when he saw the man and his friend boogie boarding when the attack happened.

He said he saw the man aggressively kick something behind him and a flicker of a tail from the water. He realized what was happening when the friend came ashore dragging his injured friend.

“I was that guy on the beach screaming, 'Shark, shark!’” Booth said. "It was like right out of that movie 'Jaws.' This has turned into Amity Island real quick out here."

Her story and photos ran in newspapers all over the world.

Haigh always endeavors to get the scoop. For the past 21 years as a Connecticut State Capitol and political reporter at The Associated Press, she has established herself as a true-to-form journalist committed to imparting the facts to the public.

Her steadfast pursuit of the truth has enabled her to earn the trust of both her readers and sources. She recently was awarded a fellowship with the New England First Amendment Institute and her work has been recognized by internal Associated Press contests. Also, in 2020, The Washington Post's The Fix named Haigh on its list of outstanding reporters to follow in each state.

“In an age when journalism is under fire for so much partisanship and criticism, reporters like Sue have so much integrity, bring so much knowledge and understanding and respect for the process,” said Daniela Altimari, a journalist who reports for Roll Call magazine. She previously worked alongside Haigh in the Connecticut State Capitol press room when she worked for the Hartford Courant.

“The citizens of Connecticut are extremely fortunate to have someone of Sue's caliber highlighting issues that matter to people,” Altimari said.

Wheaton Wire, baptism by fire

When reflecting on her student experience at Wheaton, Haigh jokes, “I majored in The Wheaton Wire.”

As a first-year student, she was exploring interests in nonfiction writing and political science and international relations when she joined the student-run newspaper. She settled on international relations as her major: “I thought I’d be a foreign correspondent.”

Each year, Haigh took on more responsibilities until landing the role of editorin-chief her senior year. She worked on all facets of the Wire’s operation, including reporting, writing, editing, production, sales and managing 20 students on its staff.

Advances in technology ushered in many changes for print journalism, and Haigh played a part in modernizing The Wheaton Wire. She applied for a college grant to secure Pagemaker, a desktop publishing program, to help lay out the paper. She also changed the frequency of the Wire from a