Our longest serving adjunct professor, Mason McAllister, has taught journalism and publication design to SMPA students since 1985 but due to health reasons, recently announced he will not be returning to GW.
A stickler for fundamentals and honest reporting, McAllister had the challenging of teaching a rudimentary subject –newspaper editing and design – in a constantly evolving environment.
“The biggest change since I’ve been at SMPA is technology,” he said. “Not just in journalism, but in society as a whole. No longer do reporters have to search for documents on paper, they now have the Internet. Of course this is great because we have access to more information, but I think students need to learn that they still need to do real reporting and find information outside of the Internet.”
For a school focused on the most relevant and up-to-date information technology, it was critical that a veteran reporter such as McAllister brought in years of editing experience from The Washington Post to teach students that there is no better tool than basic knowledge. Even when the journalism department acquired new programs, like InDesign, McAllister believed that a sound base of design principles and discerning an appealing story from an ordinary one is essential to good journalism.
“If I were to walk into a classroom and teach students InDesign without a good intro of basic design principles, they wouldn’t understand what to do,” said McAllister. “I taught what makes a newspaper page something someone wants to read and why they want to read it, then students were allowed to get technical. Frankly, it is important for all journalism students to have good grounding of what they’re doing without the technology. Once you learn how to be a good reporter, understand what you’re doing, and why you’re doing it, then you can move onto current technology.”
After three decades with the SMPA family, McAllister has left a long-lasting contribution and legacy to the school and to the journalism profession. His farewell is certainly bittersweet.
“Adjunct professors are key to our ability to offer practical applications in coursework,” said Director of the School of Media and Public Affairs Frank Sesno. “Professor McAllister has been with us for 30 years, making an incredible commitment to this school. He never lost sight of the integrity essential to good journalism and reporting, which he passed onto his students. He has been nothing short of brilliant and will surely be missed.”
As for the impact SMPA had on him, McAllister says his best memories are the people.
“Fellow adjunct professors, staff, and the students, of course, who brought a fresh view and challenge every semester,” he said. “I was there so long and every person I’ve worked with has been a pleasure to work with, year to year, dean to dean, and I really appreciate what the journalism department does for adjuncts. We’ve been treated with upmost respect and it’s been a pleasure to work for a department that wanted us and respected what we did.”
Of the many teachers and subjects students will encounter, Professor McAllister and his newspaper editing and design class gave them a foundation for their future at GW. He hopes he challenged his students and encouraged them to ask why.
“I hope I made them think about what it is that they do and understand why it is they do it.”