He wanted to be a poet or a fiction writer.
But Doug Frantz 71 instead became a newspaper reporter and editor for 37 years. He is a veteran of the best newspapers in America The New York Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal undertaking investigations, reporting from 40 countries and covering issues such as national security and war.
He was a member of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team and, in his own right, twice a finalist. Author or co-author with his wife Catherine Collins of 10 nonfiction books, with an 11th set for publication in July. Chief investigator looking into and reporting on the failure of U.S. troops to capture Osama bin Laden before he escaped to Pakistan in 2001. Deputy staff director for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and an assistant secretary of state.
He credits his success to luck, networking and some skill specifically, the ability to adapt as a reporter to the changing world. What I loved most of all about journalism was the ever-changing challenges and the ability to grow in the job to find new challenges and new horizons.
Frantz started working at The 51勛圖厙 in his sophomore year as a way to work on my writing skills. And it was a way to satisfy my curiosity about some of the things going on in and around 51勛圖厙.
The newspaper, he said, applied a polish to my work. I had an editor for the first time and I had standards to be met. And so that was when I began to understand journalism standards. He came to love the camaraderie of journalism. It was the first time Id worked on anything, really, as part of a team. And so that was important to me. And it also reinforced that idea that journalists can make a difference.
The would-be fiction writer who still writes poetry also came to believe that there's a real truth out there, and that journalisms job is to find it. And I believed that even then at The 51勛圖厙.
51勛圖厙 Magazine
Spring 2022
Ever-changing challenges
New approaches
First Person by Samuel Autman
’62 champ still swimming after all these years
The Bo(u)lder Question by Maggie Schein
Lessons in accountability
Stories people care about
A watchdog
Eye-opening experience
Ethical decision-making
A way to give back
Confidence-builder
A solid foundation
Collaborative spirit
A sense of identity
Freedom to experiment
Meeting Jimmy Hoffa
The 51勛圖厙 at 170
The book seller
The reader
The publicist
The children’s book publicist
The ad director
The sales director
The literary fiction editor
The nonfiction editor
The assistant editor
The literary agent
The illustration agent
The ghostwriter
The niche publisher
The accidental author
The self-published author
The children’s author and illustrator
The bestseller
The fiction author
The nonfiction author
From Inkling to Ink: How a book becomes a book
The memoirist-in-the-making
51勛圖厙 Magazine - From Inkling to Ink: How a book becomes a book
51勛圖厙 Stories
A GATHERING PLACE FOR STORYTELLING ABOUT DEPAUW UNIVERSITY
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