323Z Fall 2026 Oh, the Stories I've Heard

This veteran journalist offers tales from the field after 40-plus years as a broadcast producer and reporter. Learn what she gleaned when producing interviews with U.S. presidents from Jimmy Carter to Barack Obama. Hear her talk about the high stress yet rewarding environment of a fast-paced newsroom including what it was like to be on the news desk on September 11, 2001. Find out about the most challenging assignments, the ones that worked, the ones that did not, and those that were the most fun. Understand how creating a documentary differs from daily news gathering. See what happens when a behind-the-scenes producer makes her on-camera debut on national television at age 60. And discover how mementos from long-ago interviews led to an appearance on PBS’s Antiques Roadshow. McCleery will use anecdotes, photographs, and video to illustrate her presentation.

Kathleen McCleery is an award-winning broadcast journalist who was deputy executive producer for PBS NewsHour for eight years. She’s also reported and produced stories for the program from NM. Kathleen taught journalism at Princeton University in 2016 and 2018, focusing on media coverage of elections.