David Reich-Hale has always had a passion for media, journalism and storytelling.
After graduating from Southern in 1994 with a B.A. in Journalism, and a minor in politcal science, his career led to multiple news reporting positions at media outlets such as Newsday, Patch.com and the Connecticut Post. He is now the senior adviser for thought leadership at Northwell Health, a nonprofit healthcare network that provides for the New York area.
He has won several awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, as well as other awards. In 2011, he was honored as a 40-under-40 recipient by Long Island Business News.
What does your job mainly entail?
Let’s say any of our executives or higher ups are having speaking engagements, I help them with what we think the audience wants to hear. I also work on opinion pieces. It’s a lot of the same skillsets from journalism, but from the side of supporting causes that are important to the health system.
How long did you work in news media before transitioning to healthcare?
I was in media for like, 27 years. I worked at the New Haven Register for a few years. I lived in DC for a while, where I did some freelance work for a paper in Maryland. I worked on Wall Street in New York as a reporter, I went out to Long Island, I worked for Newsday.
What initially piqued your interest to get into journalism?
Originally, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do radio or newspapers, but I knew I wanted to write. I’d say pretty early on in my college career, I knew that the newspaper and maybe radio would be what I wanted to do coming out of school.
What was your favorite part of the experience being a student at SCSU?
I would say that it was working for the paper and then going upstairs to the radio station and just hanging out with everybody, having a common cause.
Everybody you were with cared about what you were doing. I loved that, because you couldn’t get lost. If you wanted to be a part of something journalism related at Southern, you had every opportunity to do it because it was a smaller group. I wouldn’t trade that in for anything.
What advice do you have for journalism students?
It’s good to find your passion, because you’re going to work 40 to 60 hours a week. Don’t you want that 40 hours to be doing something you love and something you care about?
And to also soak in the experience at school because it goes fast.
Interview by Jackson Volenec, SCSU JRN ‘24. Answers have been condensed and edited in 2023.