Telling Stories that Matter

The plane was flying straight for Mount Rainier.

Mary Ann Akers aimed her microphone at the console hoping to catch the "sound" of the enhanced ground proximity warning system being tested for her that day. Designed to tell pilots if rugged terrain is ahead, the system announces a warning to pull up and out of danger. "Warning terrain? pull up? pull up? pull up," the system alerted. "Instead of flying away from the mountain, we got caught in what's called a mountain wave, and the plane dropped several hundred feet," Akers recalls. "My stomach was in my throat and my equipment was rattling, but I got the sound and put it in my story. It was GREAT tape."

Not all assignments as a National Public Radio correspondent are as harrowing as this one, but Akers has her share of challenges covering commercial aviation news including airplane crashes, federal regulations and new security issues. For NPR, Akers has covered a wide array of news— from Washington politics and the 2000 presidential race to trends and breaking news throughout the Midwest. If you listen to NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition and NPR newscasts, she is already a familiar voice.

"Part of the thrill of being a journalist is the adrenaline rush you get when you' re working on a fast, breaking story — or when you know you've found something juicy."

She always knew she wanted to be a writer, but it wasn't until Akers met Guilford professor Jack Smith that she discovered journalism. "He had a big influence on me," she says. "He was an accomplished, knowledgeable journalist, having served as a foreign correspondent in Europe for the Associated Press. Besides the basics of reporting, Jack taught me that any good journalist had to be ethical first and foremost and we often debated journalistic ethics. One time he said to me, 'You can't be anything other than a journalist. ' He just knew that was what I was meant to be."

Akers' career started when she interned with the Chicago Tribune one semester. After graduation she became a broadcast writer for United Press International serving radio and television network clients, including CNN. She soon became UPI's congressional correspondent, covering both the House and Senate, and occasionally, the White House. One of Akers' mentors was legendary UPI White House correspondent Helen Thomas. "When Congress was out of session, I'd often go over and help Helen at the White House. She let me ride in (President) Clinton's press pool and attend Oval Office photo ops. It was a big thrill for me at that stage of my career, and I always learned something about reporting when around Helen."

Akers left UPI to work for Congress Daily, a part of the National Journal, and then moved to The Washington Times. In 1999 she joined NPR and discovered a love for broadcast reporting. "I love telling stories. With sound you can bring a story to life. The whole goal is to put the listeners there," she says.

Akers also believes in being fair and, "through storytelling, trying to make the world a better, more informed, safer place." She credits Guilford for giving her a worldview.

"I am only now, in my 30s, realizing how deeply Quaker values and philosophies are part of my life," she says. "Guilford made me conscious about racism, equality among the sexes and among religions. It made me aware of people in troubled parts of the world— those forever mired in oppression, turmoil and violence. Guilford gave me a real sense of awareness about the world."