J U L I E. E. M A S O N '93

The following feature story appeared in the campus publication MOSAIC in September, 1998.

KEEPING AN EYE ON THE MEDIA AND THE WORLD THROUGH A WINDOW AT THE WHITE HOUSE

On November 5, 1995 Julie E. Mason ’93 was having dinner in her favorite Washington, DC restaurant when her pager went off. Several hours later she was back at work, seated on a plane with members of the White House press corps, who were accompanying President Bill Clinton to Jerusalem to attend the funeral of assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin.

Then special assistant to White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry, Mason was on the 24-hour trip serving as one of McCurry’s liaisons with the press. She says the historic incident was memorable, but by no means unusual. A place where CNN’s round-the-clock news programming provides both "background music" and clues to each day’s agenda, the nation’s capital has clearly become Mason’s world.

Knowing the rhythms and beats of government

Mason spent two years and many grueling hours in the press secretary’s office learning and practicing the intricacies of White House media relations before she was recruited to join First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s staff in May 1997. Today, Mason is deputy press secretary for Mrs. Clinton, responsible for responding to inquiries from the media regarding the First Lady, the White House residence, and major White House events. Whether Mrs. Clinton goes to Hartford, South Africa, or Mexico, Mason is often at her side to handle the gaggle of reporters that accompanies her. Says White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry of his 27-year-old former special assistant, "Julie Mason gets more done each day than 10 staffers twice her age. She works miracles because she’s smart and she knows the rhythms and beats of government; and because she's nice, too, everyone always wants to help her."

It was the prospect of witnessing the real-life, global ramifications of the political issues she had explored while majoring in Latin American studies at Trinity that prompted the Illinois native to head for the nation’s capital after graduating. In her first year after graduation she taught at The Potomac School in McLean, VA. It was an experience that more importantly brought her closer to life inside Washington’s beltway.

Her initial foray into politics consisted of a two-month unpaid internship with her hometown congressman, U.S. Rep. William O. Lipinski, (D-Ill.) With her appetite for politics whetted, in August 1994 she went to work as a staff assistant for the Senate Judiciary Committee chaired by U.S. Sen. Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-Del.). When Sen. Biden’s press secretary, Evelyn Lieberman, moved to the White House to become deputy press secretary, she invited Mason to join her.

International issues

Being at the White House has brought Mason’s interest in international affairs to a new level. When Mrs. Clinton journeys outside the country, Mason will often precede her to their destination, where she helps to determine physical and political logistics and briefs Mrs. Clinton on her options. Last November, one such trip took her to Central Asia to the Muslim republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, where Mrs. Clinton drew attention to America’s support of women in the region. Through "microcredit" loans from the United States, women there have started small businesses, such as those that produce rugs, and consequently have improved their families' economic standing and their own self-worth. "Mrs. Clinton's presence on these trips helps in that it attracts media attention and, therefore, in effect, ‘legitimizes’ what local people are doing," Mason contends.

When she is not traveling with Mrs. Clinton outside the United States, Mason works with the First Lady’s press secretary to determine whether Mrs. Clinton’s domestic activities will be open to the press and, if so, to ensure that Mrs. Clinton’s message gets delivered properly. A notable example of such an event occurred early this year when Mason accompanied Mrs. Clinton to Trinity, where the First Lady toured the College’s Community Child Care Center and conducted a forum on child care -- all while under intense media scrutiny caused by the events unrelated to child care.

Mason recalls the frenetic scene created by television satellite trucks and dozens of reporters and photographers. "There was so much going on that we knew we'd have a lot of press," she says. "Luckily, it was a great way for Mrs. Clinton to highlight the issues that she really cares about."

Associate Professor of Psychology and Associate Director of the Counseling Center Randolph M. Lee, who visited with his former student during the First Lady's visit to Trinity, says he is not surprised by Mason's success. "Julie was vivacious and spunky, always willing to say what came into her mind and then defend her position. She had no fear of speaking. She was really bright and focused. When I met with her while she was with the First Lady, she clearly was on her own turf."

Mason acknowledges that having the White House as her turf has taught her much about the reality of international affairs, the news business, and herself. "When I came to work in the President’s press office, my experience working with the press was fairly limited. I was given a chance, and learned that the only way to learn about a field is to jump into it, let more knowledgeable people provide guidance, and be confident enough to make errors in the learning process. Although I still am not sure what area I want to go into when I leave the White House, I know that I have the confidence to try anything."

-- Suzanne Zack