M.A. Insights: Class of 2018’s Olivia Carville on the Impact of the M.A. Business & Economics Program
Get to know Carville in her own words as she shares why she pursued the M.A. Business & Economics concentration at the J-School, her work and her journey from New Zealand to New York.
How did the M.A. program influence your career path and what insights can you share on the skill sets and the things that you learned here?
Before I came to the Journalism School, I didn't know much about business or finance reporting. I'd been working as a journalist for about 10 years, but I had a gaping hole in my resume. Quite frankly, I was almost afraid of doing business or financial stories. So I came to the Journalism School to learn those skills.
What I learned from the Investigative Techniques course was the ability to read financial documents, how to follow the money, how to go toe-to-toe with Chief Executives or Chief Financial Officers — and how to ask the questions that really matter.
What would you say to somebody interested or accepted into the M.A. program and looking to enter the business journalism realm?
I had worked as a journalist for about 10 years before I came to Columbia and I knew how to write stories about exploitation or human suffering. What I couldn't do was tell readers why that was happening, or who stood to benefit.
I wanted to come to Columbia to write the stories that I didn't know how to write. Through this program, I was able to learn the skills that allowed me to do that.
Since graduating in 2018, I had always thought that I was going to go home to New Zealand, but I never left New York. I now work on Bloomberg's investigations team. I'm also president of the New York Financial Writers Association. Now I teach an Investigative Reporting course here at the J-School. I've returned not as a student, but as an instructor this year.
Tell us a little bit about that course. What are the students diving into?
The course that I teach at Columbia is called Investigative Reporting Techniques. We cover the gamut — from how to find an investigative mindset, how to access public records and documentation, how to file Freedom of Information Act requests, how to background people and how to sleuth on people through social media or through public websites. I hope once the students leave this class, they feel confident enough to tackle an investigative story.
Is there anything else that you would like to say about the course, or your time here at Columbia?
I often get asked, “What advice would you give to prospective students or current students?” The advice that I'd give is to be ambitious. This course is a quick one. You're only on campus for nine months, so do what you can to soak up every experience.
That includes trying to soak up the wisdom and knowledge of your professors, attending the external events held at the J-School to listen to the world class guest speakers and try to retain some of the magic that just exists being on campus.
When I left the J-School, I often think back about the first time I walked into Pulitzer Hall: that feeling of deep admiration, respect and inspiration for this Journalism School and for all the journalists who had walked that path before me.