On Thursday, April 25, at 6:00 p.m., KO hosted its annual Baird Journalism dinner welcoming Rachel Abrahamson ’98 back to campus as this year’s speaker. This beloved tradition was established by KO News alumni as a way to honor former faculty advisor Warren Baird. Every year, the dinner serves as an opportunity for KO News editors as well as other interested students and faculty to hear from a distinguished alumn who works in the field of journalism.
As the guests arrived, they enjoyed a delicious dinner prepared by Sage Dining before hearing remarks from Ms. Abrahamson, who was eager to share her experiences working in print and digital media for over 20 years.
From a young age, Ms. Abrahamson knew she loved creative writing and followed her passion at KO by joining epic, KO’s literary magazine, as well as the KO News. In her time at KO, she was grateful to be mentored by several English teachers, including Mr. Baird.
After graduating, Ms. Abrahamson attended Mount Holyoke University and earned her Bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature before going on to get her Masters degree in creative writing at Johns Hopkins University. Following graduate school, she turned down a writing program opportunity at New York University, instead choosing to take an internship at Us Weekly, where she first discovered her love for journalism and reporting.
After working at Us Weekly for many years, Ms. Abrahamson was exposed to the ever-changing world of print journalism when Us Weekly, previously owned by Wenner Media, was sold to American Media in 2017, resulting in the entire senior staff getting laid off. Luckily, one of Ms. Abrahamson’s friends introduced her to the parenting editor at Today, where she has worked full time since 2021.
Nowadays, Ms. Abrahamson’s work mostly centers around human-interest stories, giving her the unique opportunity to discover people’s stories from around the globe. Through her platform, Ms. Abrahamson strives to be a light in the darkness, and she claims the most rewarding aspect of her career is when she learns that her pieces have meaningfully impacted her readers. Oftentimes, Ms. Abrahamson’s pieces become segments for the Today show, and she gets the opportunity to watch them come to life in the studio, working alongside Jenna Bush Hagar and Hoda Kotb.
Ms. Abrahamson has been the most-read author on TODAY.com for two years in a row, earning 54 million page views in 2023. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, People, CNN, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post. In addition, she was recently awarded the GEM award from NBC Universal, which recognizes individuals who go above and beyond in their daily work.
Ms. Abrahamson’s speech, in which she shared her advice for aspiring reporters, resonated with the attendees, especially senior Ava Cashman, who hopes to pursue a career in communications in the future. “The Baird Journalism Dinner is always one of my favorite events every year, and this year was no exception,” she said. “Ms. Abrahamson was an incredible speaker, and it was so exciting to learn about her career and experience at KO.”
Ms. Abrahamson also emphasized the importance of being a self-advocate early in your career and finding the right mentors. “Ms. Abrahmson’s speech was informative and inspired me to find the notable people in my community and learn from them,” senior Emma Barringer said.
This year’s Baird Journalism dinner was certainly a success and we would like to extend our gratitude to Ms. Abrahamson for sharing her inspiring story with the community!
