Whereas most college graduates rely on their resumes to land them a job, Nadege Green knew that, in her field, even an impressive resume wouldn’t be enough to get her foot in the door. Instead, Green, a 2009 graduate of Barry University’s College of Arts and Sciences, relied on the relationships she built while at Barry and used these connections to break into journalism, climb the professional ladder, and ultimately report on one of the world’s most widely covered news stories.
“A resume doesn’t say much for someone wanting to go into journalism,” said Green, a reporter for The Miami Herald who covers North Miami, Miami Gardens and the South Florida Haitian community. “I definitely think Barry was a stepping stone to getting me where I am today.”
Green, who majored in English at Barry with a specialization in Professional Writing, said that the professors she was introduced to as a student at Barry helped prepare her for a career in journalism.
“I had some really awesome professors,” Green said. “They didn’t take excuses, which works very well in journalism.”
Andrea Greenbaum, Ph.D., professor of English and director of the Professional Writing program at Barry, helped prepare Green for journalism’s tight deadlines with her zero-tolerance policy for excuses and tardy papers, Green said. Greenbaum also emphasized the importance of networking – a skill that Green applied even as a student.
“You want your professors to know you, “ Green said. “You want them to be impressed by you.”
Mike Sallah, former adjunct instructor for Barry’s English Department, introduced Green to the art of investigative reporting by requiring Green, as part of his investigative reporting class, to write an original investigative piece.
“It was the hardest class I took at Barry by far,” Green said. “It was fascinating.”
When Green received the only A in the class, Sallah offered Green a clerking job for The Miami Herald. After a few months of answering the phone and emails, Green was offered an internship with the Herald, which she accepted. After a year of covering Liberty City, Miami Gardens and Overtown neighborhoods, Green was offered a full-time position working as a reporter for the Herald.
In 2012, Green became a well-known name in the media when she wrote a series of stories covering Rudy Eugene’s assault on a homeless man on Miami’s MacArthur Causeway. Eugene, who came to be dubbed the “Miami Zombie” and the “Causeway Cannibal,” became a global media sensation, with Green’s reporting serving as a local and prominent source of information on the events.
“I knew that when I started covering the story that it had already gone viral,” Green said. “The nature of the attack was just so bizarre that it was quickly picked up by a number of media outlets. I never thought of my coverage in terms of how popular this story was. At the time, I just wanted to do the story justice.”
Although Green did not start as the main reporter on the incident, she eventually became the main reporter on stories for the Herald that retold Eugene’s life story. She was the only reporter to attend and cover Eugene’s funeral.
“The Rudy Eugene story will be remembered for a long time, and I am very proud of the way we covered the events surrounding the attack and, ultimately, both men's lives,” Green said. “We were able to tell Eugene's story in a way it had not been told before.”
For more information about the Professional Writing specialization and minor offered by the Department of English and Foreign Languages in Barry’s College of Arts and Sciences, visit https://www.barry.edu/english-foreign-languages/professional-writing/ or contact Dr. Andrea Greenbaum at agreenbaum@mail.barry.edu or 305-899-4568.