College of Arts and Sciences

On this week’s episode of Segue, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s weekly radio program exploring the lives and work of the people on campus and beyond, College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Dean Kevin Leonard, PhD, interviews Danielle Belton, editor-in-chief of HuffPost, the online news outlet formerly known as The Huffington Post.

This episode of Segue airs at 9 a.m. on Sunday, June 13. Listeners can tune into WSIE 88.7 FM The Sound or siue.edu/wsie.

Belton graduated from SIUE with a bachelor’s in mass communications in 1999 and was editor of The Alestle – SIUE’s student paper. Prior to her current role, Belton worked as editor-in-chief for The Root, and was the creator and writer of her award-winning blog, The Black Snob. As a journalist, Belton has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Essence Magazine, The Guardian, The American Prospect and many others.

“How did you end up studying mass communications at SIUE?” Leonard asks.

“I always loved journalism,” says Belton. “From a very early age I was fascinated by the news. Some of my earliest memories are of the Iran-Contra hearings in the ‘80s. I started reading the local newspaper, the St. Louis Post Dispatch, daily when I was around 11.”

She even recalls watching 60 Minutes and Meet the Press on Sundays, as well as both nightly local and national news broadcasts with her parents, who she refers to as “news junkies.”

“I chose to go to SIUE, because they were really expanding and doing a lot of new things with the campus, and it was close to home,” shares Belton. “I was scared to venture out on my own, so SIUE felt safer.”

“How did you become interested in journalism? Was there a set of experiences while you were at SIUE that confirmed that you wanted to continue on the path to being a journalist?” inquires Leonard.

“Being editor of The Alestle really solidified it for me,” Belton explains. “I did it for two years in a row. I loved running a newspaper; I loved writing editorial columns; I loved the fact that I got to have a voice, and that I got to shape the voice of the campus paper.”

Belton believes her determination combined with the support she received as a student at SIUE allowed her to successfully graduate in three and a half years.

“The fact that I was willing to study so much, be so involved on campus, juggle so many things, but still at the end of the day wanted to be at The Alestle more than anything else told me that I was meant to be a journalist. This is where I belong,” adds Belton.

“While you were at SIUE as a student, were there specific individuals—faculty members, other students—who inspired you?” Leonard questions.

“One of my favorite professors was Dr. [Riley] Maynard, but I enjoyed all my professors, because they had worked in the field and had a lot of experience. Because all my professors were really honest with me from day one that this was going to be hard, I was mentally prepared for things to be hard.”

Belton recounts how the many opportunities within the Mass Communications department at SIUE, such as editing the school newspaper, learning to utilize a teleprompter, and producing a news program, truly prepared her for a journalism career.

She also notes that her experience at SIUE was enriched by her ability to learn hands-on and truly connect with her professors, something she believes would not have been the same at a larger university. 

“I had such a rich experience there, everything from learning media criticism to ethics to watching historic films and pieces of popular culture that shaped our country. I think back on it a lot with fondness.”

Tune in at 9 a.m. on Sunday, June 13, to WSIE 88.7 The Sound to hear the entire conversation.