Trif Alatzas speaks to Quill and Scroll Honor Society members
Publisher and Editor in Chief of The Baltimore Sun Media Group Triffon Alatzas speaks during the induction ceremony for the Quill and Scroll Honor Society. Alatzas shared stories about his journalistic experiences and explained how the different publications within the media group operate.
On Tuesday, April 3, Publisher and Editor in Chief of the Baltimore Sun Media Group Triffon Alatzas spoke during the Quill and Scroll Honor Society inductions. Members of The Patriot, The Pinnacle, and The Pacificus listened to Alatzas share stories about his journalistic experiences and explain how the different publications within the Media Group operate.
According to the executive profiles on The Baltimore Sun’s website, Alatzas became the Publisher and Editor in Chief in March 2016. With this role, Alatzas oversees business operations as well as the newsrooms. Since 2002, he has actively served several roles and “is credited with bridging the print and online divisions of the newsroom.”
During his presentation, he shared some of his background story in addition to his responsibilities as Editor in Chief. He also emphasized the important role journalists have in society by reporting the correct information as quickly as possible.
Junior Copy Editor Alyssa Kraus thought his presentation was interesting, especially because he was able to give examples of his own experiences in the newsroom. “He spoke about breaking news stories and controversial topics in articles and being able to understand how that works in a professional newspaper was very interesting for me,” Kraus said.
Members of The Patriot staff pose for a picture with Alatzas and his daughter, Jamie, while wearing shirts from The Baltimore Sun. After the ceremony, Alatzas and his daughter ate lunch with the staff and continued their discussion about being a professional journalist.
After the induction ceremony, Alatzas joined The Patriot staff for lunch upstairs in The Patriot Room. This gave staff members the opportunity to ask Alatzas additional questions and further the discussion regarding his experiences, including the unfolding of the Ray Rice scandal and reporting on the Baltimore Riots.
Senior Assignment Chief Grace Mottley found this discussion to be comforting and made her realize the benefits hard work and dedication can have. “I was able to take away the idea that the field is ever growing and expanding and that it is more necessary now than ever to be a good journalist … Working as hard as you can and trying every opportunity can bring you success even if you don’t think it will,” she said.
This experience also confirmed Mottley’s interest in majoring in Broadcast Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park next year. “It made me feel more secure for a future in journalism because he confirmed for me that there is an ever-changing field out there and that there actually is a place for me in it,” Mottley said.
Overall, Alatzas’s visit offered insight into the life of real journalists and taught staff members valuable lessons, especially the importance of reliable sources and the process of finding multiple sources. “You can’t just write the first thing you hear. You want to get information out quickly to your readers, but you need to make sure everything is completely certain,” Kraus said.
Caroline Cooney is the Editor in Chief for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.