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Madison Muller

Madison Muller (BSJ20, MSJ21)

Health-care reporter, Bloomberg News

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Tell us about your career path. How did you get where you are today?
Landing in my current role at Bloomberg News was definitely a full-circle moment. Growing up, I loved health and science and always thought I would end up pursuing a career in medicine. As an undergrad at Northwestern, I even participated in what's now known as the Clinical Apprentice Program (as a journalism major) where I got to shadow doctors working within the Northwestern health system. Medill helped connect me to an investigative fellowship at the Washington Post and I worked as a freelancer or on a contract-basis for several different outlets until, ultimately, this opportunity at Bloomberg opened up. It was actually fellow Medill grad Augusta Saraiva (BSJ20, MSJ21) who told me about it!

What are your main responsibilities in your current role?
The fun part about being a health reporter is there’s always an abundance of news to cover. My specific beat is public health, which again, encompasses a wide range of subjects. There are certain things like Covid-19 that are obviously important areas of coverage, but I’ve gotten to explore other critical areas like gun violence and mental health through my beat as well. Because Bloomberg is a financial news outlet, I also have to cover company earnings for diagnostics, medical device and pharmaceutical companies – which is something I really didn’t know a lot about before, but have had to learn quickly!

How has your Medill training helped you in your career?
Medill laid the groundwork for a successful career in journalism, covering everything from AP Style to filing FOIA requests. Through experiences like the Medill Investigative Lab, I was able to sharpen my reporting and interviewing skills even further and actually publish work in the Washington Post as a student. It was the professors and career advisors at Medill, though, that really made a difference with their support and sage advice.

How has the Northwestern Medill network helped you advance in your career?
Yes! Like I mentioned before, I found out about the opening for my current job through a friend from Medill who was already working at Bloomberg. There’s actually three people from my grad school class working at Bloomberg right now, which has been really fun.

How can your industry be more inclusive and representative of society?
The journalism industry has come a long way from where it was even a decade ago – but that’s not saying much. Cultivating an industry that is representative of society and inclusive, means supporting diversity throughout the pipeline. It’s not enough just to ensure that entry-level positions and internship classes are diverse, although that’s an important start. There needs to be infrastructure in place to ensure that young journalists who come from marginalized groups – be that race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status – are able to actually move through the ranks to hold positions of power and influence in the industry.

What advice do you have for someone considering Medill?
I am so grateful for the opportunities Medill opened up for me and I’m excited for the ones it will open up for the next student that is brave enough to pursue a journalism career. Never stop asking questions and demanding the truth, let those things guide your way!