Jack Keith – Faculty Update – Western Journalism Alumni

Jack Keith, BA

Instructor

Jack Keith Updates

Winter 2023 Update

Although I’m officially retired, I have not lost my love of teaching journalism classes. So I continue to teach one class each quarter.

I enjoy working with students who are typically still trying to figure out what career they want to pursue.

I teach Newswriting, where we focus on basic journalism skills, including interviewing, reporting and writing. And students’ interests vary, from becoming a reporter for a website or a newspaper to making a career in public relations or photography/videography.

I originally moved to Bellingham from the East Coast in 1978 to become one of the editors of The Bellingham Herald — I handled feature stories. Then in 1980, the top editor left to take a new job, and I was named the new top editor. I enjoyed writing a weekly opinion column and leading a staff of about 30.

After 15 years running the Herald, I decided I wanted to experience working at a larger newspaper. I was hired by The News Tribune in Tacoma, where I held a variety of editing roles for 10 years. I also advised students who were interested in learning about journalism — several News Tribune editors spoke to the group several times in a class setting, providing tips on reporting and writing.

Then my wife and I moved back to Bellingham, and I got a job with the journalism department at Western. And now, I am in my 17th year with the faculty.
Winter 2022 Update

It feels good to be having in-person classes again in 2021-22. I missed having lively discussions about journalism issues, and it’s fun to be able to get a conversation going with a room full of students.

I’m down to teaching just one newswriting class each quarter this year as I settle into retirement. Yes, I have technically retired, but I am continuing to come into campus twice a week to meet with my class.

Like almost everyone else, my personal life also has slowed down. My wife and I are being cautious about going into stores and restaurants so we can avoid contact with people who may have COVID-19. We also haven’t flown away on vacation since the pandemic began, so life has been pretty quiet.

But thank goodness we live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, where we can enjoy forests, lakes and mountains. We’re looking forward to spring when we can get out biking again and experience nature.
Winter 2021 Update

I turned 70 years old during winter term, and I am planning to scale back my teaching for the journalism department. At this point, I am looking to limit myself to one class a quarter, most likely sticking with Newswriting, which I enjoy very much.

I’ve had a great ride for about 15 years in the department, where I spent nine years as the faculty adviser to The Western Front. My background of more than 30 years as a daily newspaper editor helped me teach those aspiring news staffers about the ups and downs of the media world.

Like most everyone, I have felt the effects of the pandemic and the switch to online classes. But I have enjoyed working hard to make students feel they are part of a discussion, rather than simply hearing my lectures.

I hope all of you are hanging in there, wherever you are these days. Stay safe!
Winter 2020 Update

After nearly a decade of leading The Western Front, I bid farewell to my favorite class and this fall returned to teaching regular journalism classes. I loved the Front and working with so many fast-rising students, and I was very proud of the quality of the student newspaper.

As many of you know, our Front students consistently win lots of regional and national awards for their reporting, opinion writing, photography and more. My proudest moment was the achievement of some of our top journalism graduates who had been hired by The Seattle Times, the Northwest’s top newspaper. Back in 2014, the tragedy of the Oso landslide was major news as 43 people died in Snohomish County.

Members of the Times’ newsroom team involved in the coverage included lots of Western grads who I had the pleasure of teaching, including Gina Cole (’12), Paige Collins (’12), Colin Ditz (’12), Katie Greene Cotterill (’10), Coral Garnick (’09) and more. Along with breaking news reporting online and in print, the team also did follow-up reporting that explored whether or not the landslide could have been avoided. And the following year, these Western alums were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting, the greatest prize in journalism.

Many journalism professors taught these students and share my happiness over this honor.

These days, I have slowed down as I approach retirement age, and this fall I am teaching two sections of Journalism 207 Newswriting, the basic reporting class. I find that it still is invigorating to work with students and help them grow and gain self-confidence that will guide them into a career.

On the personal side, I continue to enjoy riding bikes on trails with my wife nearly every weekend. We love to be outdoors and see birds and animals along the waterfront in Anacortes, where we frequently observe seals spinning around and then diving down to find some fish. We mainly stay in the northwest corner of the state to ride, but occasionally we’ll travel down to Oregon or other spots to find new adventures.

My transition from more than 30 years of daily newspaper reporting and editing to the teaching world has been wonderful. I love it more than I ever expected. And I plan on continuing to teach for a number of years.
Winter 2019 Update

This is my 13th year at Western, and I truly enjoy working with The Western Front staff every quarter of the academic year. It’s exciting to see the growth of the new reporters, and I love the development of the editors as they learn time-management and people-managing skills to create a terrific college newspaper.

But I have been the student newspaper’s faculty adviser for nine years, and I have decided it’s time to pass the torch to someone new. I will complete the spring quarter with the Front, then revert to teaching Newswriting and other journalism classes next year.

Meanwhile, my outside-of-Western life continues to be wonderful. My wife and I love to go biking on trails around the Northwest, and we ride just about every week. Our favorite trail right now is along the Anacortes waterfront, where we see seals and otters as well as herons and bald eagles. Being out in nature energizes us, and we cherish the experiences.
Winter 2018 Update

It’s been a great year for both The Western Front and for me personally.

I’m now in my eighth year as faculty adviser to the Front, and I continue to enjoy working with students to build a strong publication that informs the campus community. The great job by students was rewarded last spring when the Society of Professional Journalists named the Front the best non-daily student newspaper in the Northwest’s five states (Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Montana and Idaho). That also placed the Front among the top 12 in the entire nation, and that’s definitely something we can all be proud of.

In my personal life, my wife and I celebrated a special moment last summer. We have five grandchildren, and the oldest, Adam, graduated from college in May and then married his longtime love in July. We are so happy for him and his wife, Andrea.

But wait—there’s more. Our three youngest grandchildren recently moved up to Bellingham with our daughter and her husband after living near San Francisco. So now we see them often, not just during an occasional visit a few times a year.

Meanwhile, my wife and I continue our favorite pastime: bike riding. We ride trails almost every week to get us into the gorgeous Northwest outdoors and keep us physically fit. We ride along the waterfront in Anacortes or head down toward Seattle to bike through woods and farm fields, soaking up the views of snow-capped mountains and smiling when we spot wildlife including majestic birds, seals, deer and more.