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Darren Samuelsohn, BJ '97

What do you do?
I am a senior reporter on our staff of about 10 reporters. I have to keep an eye on what's happening on Capitol Hill in the broadest sense, while also focusing in on several specific beats. When I say the broadest sense, that means knowing what is on the House and Senate floor on a daily basis, where the GOP and Democratic leadership stand, what the White House is saying about all this, and who are the lobbyists and other players trying to get their points heard. My beats include EPA, EPA appropriations, overall budget, Clean Air Act, climate change, homeland security and politics-elections. It's a long list and it keeps me busy. I cover these issues from the perspective of the three branches of government, and all the folks who swirl around these three branches to influence the process. I cover press conferences, hearings, markups, speeches, court cases, and I do enterprise when I have a moment to breathe.

How did you get your job?
I got this job in December 2000 through a round about connection to Mizzou. I'd been working at the Olympian newspaper in Washington, covering outdoors/entertainment/travel stories. Anyway, long story short, I wanted to get into environment and energy issues in Washington and had seen and heard a little about Greenwire. I looked a little closer and knew that it would be the ideal job for where I wanted to go and how I wanted to experience Washington as a political reporter. So I blanketed the city with resumes, with the hopes Greenwire would hire me. My former sports editor from the Missourian, Greg Mellen, knew someone who worked here. That got me a foot in the door. Then Greenwire was sold to another company and I had to remain persistent. I flew out here on my own dime for interviews. Then decided to leave Washington State for D.C. without a job. A week after I got here, Greenwire hired me on a temporary basis. The rest is history.

What was the best professional lesson you learned at the J-School?
To grow up and be professional in my journalism. I remember being 18 at Missouri, an undergrad like most undergrads, interested in pretty much the same things as most undergrads. I wanted to be a journalist, though. The differences between my freshman and sophomore years, when I was not really involved in the J-School, and then my junior and senior years working at the Missourian were astounding. Responsibility. Meeting deadlines. Working with people in Columbia to get a story. Covering the MU football team. The ethics surrounding the profession. I value it all and wish I'd been a bit more attentive in those first few years. Well, not that attentive. It was fun.

What would be your best advice to current students?
Once you're in the J-School, and you're pretty sure that's the direction you want to take with your life, don't quit. I remember the preliminary classes, the J200s and the J105s, being quite painful, tedious and at times boring. Lots of people in those classes with me quit. I thought about it too. My father convinced me otherwise. And I'm glad I didn't. The experiences once in the J-School, in the Missourian in particular, get you ready for what it is like out here. To a degree, of course.

What are you working on currently?
I'm covering Congress, the presidential election campaign, the Bush administration's environment and energy agenda, the Clean Air Act New Source Review regulatory overhaul, and climate change debates.

What do you consider to be your greatest professional achievement?
Hard to beat the work I did at the Missourian in 1997 while covering the MU football team. I wrote a pretty comprehensive story about a defensive back who had a history of domestic violence problems without facing any major repercussions. He was a darn good football player and that was what mattered. Anyway, I tracked down three women who were willing to talk about their relationships. The story swept a bunch of awards. First Place in the Associated Press Sports Editor contest for feature writing at an under 50,000 circ. paper. First place in the William Randolph Hearst college newspaper contest. First place for feature writing for all newspapers in Missouri from the Missouri Press Association. Landing the job here in D.C. and the work I've done covering the Bush administration has also been pretty amazing.

What makes you good at your work?
I enjoy the issues I cover. I have a strong interest in understanding the D.C. political world, and seeing how things really tick here.

What are your next career steps?
I'm enjoying the world of energy and environmental policy, becoming an expert on a set of issues that promise not to go away. We'll have to see what the future has in store.

What did you want to be as a kid?
I wanted to be a reporter since 5th grade.

What is something about you that might surprise people?
I was prom king in high school.