Wayne Valley’s journalism class has been hosting different journalists in a series this month in order to learn more about the career and why the news matters. 

Their first visitor, a former Wayne resident, was award winning sports journalist, Brien McDonald. McDonald is a national Emmy award winning sports journalist, senior producer and director. Throughout his long career, McDonald has worked with ABC Sports, HBO sports, ESPN and more. His portfolio includes digital media, documentaries, feature creation/development, live events, taped and studio shows. While at Valley, he spoke with the journalism students about interviewing skills, sports journalism, and journalistic ethics. 

Next, the former editor-in-chief of Wayne Valley’s school newspaper, Amanda Vogt, visited the class. Vogt just graduated from Penn State where she studied journalism. While at Penn State, Vogt covered many different stories including the Paralympics in Paris, Little League World Series, and of course, Penn State Football. Vogt recently landed a dream job with the NY Jets. While here, she discussed her journalism major, her different stories, and her new career.

The guest speaker tour ended with Associated Press Journalist Gina Abdy. With over 20 years of experience, Abdy has worked for Bloomberg News, Fox News, and is currently a Freelance Entertainment Producer with the Associated Press. Abdy discussed her most exciting interviews and important events. She highlighted her work including her coverage of Michael Jackson’s funeral, the Royal Wedding, election night, different Super Bowls and more. She showed clips of her work and answered questions about interviewing celebrities, politicians and more.