From Ohio to D.C., alum talks of a reporter's life

From a fight in a convent to an Amish community picketing a Chippendale's show to a presidential campaign, Sabrina Eaton has covered her share of interesting stories. Last Tuesday as part of the ongoing Alumni Writers Program at Kelly Writers House, Eaton spoke to a small group of students about her career in journalism. Eaton began thinking about writing early in life. "My mom wrote for The Star, that supermarket tabloid, and I thought it looked like fun," she said. And when Eaton came to Penn as an undergraduate, those early thoughts began to take shape as the start of a career. By the time she graduated in 1985, Eaton had served as a reporter for The Daily Pennsylvanian, an editor of 34th Street Magazine and an intern for several magazines. Despite her extensive experience with magazines, however, that was not the medium she ultimately chose for her professional career. "Magazines respect newspapers, but it's not so much vice versa," Eaton said she found, and consequently decided to go into the newspaper business. Since 1990, Eaton has been the Washington correspondent for The Cleveland Plain Dealer. She describes her job as "regional reporting," which involves following Ohio congressmen and reporting on daily political issues. The presidential campaign of John Kasich, a Republican representative from Ohio, is currently the main focus of her work. Despite the hectic schedule and constant deadlines, Eaton said, "I really like my job. I wouldn't do it if it wasn't this much fun." Besides her work in Washington, Eaton discussed another challenge she has faced -- being a gay woman in journalism. Indeed, she explained that she decided to visit Penn this week to coincide with Bisexual Gay Lesbian Transgendered Awareness Days. "I just consider it like another biographical fact, like I have brown hair and blue eyes. It's never been a huge thing," Eaton said, adding that she believes her openness has helped change stereotypes of gay women at the Plain Dealer. However, Eaton cautioned gays looking into journalism that "coming out real early in your career is probably not the best idea. You should work on your writing first." Eaton stressed the need for experience in the form of internships and small stories for any type of publication around the area. "I enjoyed hearing about her Washington escapades," College sophomore Aaron Couch remarked. "Being a reporter sounds exciting." For now, Eaton plans to continue to writing for the Plain Dealer. "After all," she quipped, "where else would I get all-expense paid trips to Cleveland on a regular basis?"