Alumni of the Elon School of Communications covered the swearing in of Joe Biden, the 46th President of the United States, on Jan. 20, 2021. Here's how you can find their coverage.
Follow Elon alumni journalists covering the presidential inauguration here
As the nation prepares to usher in a new presidential administration, Elon alumni will have a front-row seat to history during the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States of America.
President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn in during an unprecedented ceremony at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. Due to security concerns following the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the inauguration will take place in a small ceremony, featuring the new president and vice president, members of Congress, their families and the media.
As Biden and Harris take the oath of office, Elon School of Communications alumni will document the historic moment for a number of news outlets in Washington, DC.
Katie Suiters ’10 is senior producer for Cox Media Group’s DC News Bureau. Suiters will remotely coordinate the efforts of three teams of reporters and photographers on the ground throughout the day’s events. The coverage Suiters and her team produce will be delivered to 10 local Cox Media stations across the country.
A Washington, DC native, Suiters says covering the events of the past few weeks – the election, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and a second impeachment – has been a surreal experience as a journalist. Now, she is excited for the chance to lead her team through another historic day in American history.
“It’s definitely a huge honor,” Suiters said. “I think it’s a very unique opportunity, especially this year with so much going on. It’s presented definitely a lot of challenges, but also opportunities that I think it’s going to be a very unique experience.”
For Scott McCrary ’00, Inauguration Day will be spent overseeing hours of live broadcast coverage of the events as executive producer at WUSA9 in the nation’s capital. McCrary is preparing staff for an unprecedented inauguration with less social activity and more social distancing than in years past. Despite numerous obstacles facing the team at WUSA9, McCrary is confident in the group’s ability to produce memorable stories as he prepares to cover his fifth inauguration.
“Every one of them is an incredibly awe-inspiring thing to be a part of,” McCrary said. “It is the peaceful transfer of power, it is something that is so uniquely American and so embedded in our political experience, in our shared experience that being here to help write the first draft of history every four years is an incredible responsibility, but also an incredible experience.”
The Biden-Harris inauguration will mark the first time Gary Grumbach ’16 has covered the inauguration. Grumbach is a campaign embed for NBC News and recently began covering the Biden-Harris transition. Grumbach began the 2020 presidential race covering the Bernie Sanders campaign and has since reported on impeachments, the COVID-19 pandemic, racial justice protests and countless other major news stories affecting the nation. Now, as he follows the Biden administration to Washington, Grumbach is excited to have the honor of witnessing an inauguration.
“This isn’t the kind of thing where you can Google and find out what’s going to happen because it hasn’t happened yet,” Grumbach said. “It’s never happened before, you’re living it, you’re digesting the information as it’s happening.”
As Elon alumni journalists set out to tell the story of a new administration on Jan. 20, they know they are part of a special group of Phoenix who will help write the next chapter of American history.”
“It’s just such a special network that we have,” Suiters said. “It really is I think a special breed of person that comes from Elon, and it’s not surprising that there are so many of us that are covering history like this.”
Follow along as Elon alumni document history during the 2020 Biden-Harris Inauguration in Washington, D.C.:
Scott McCrary ’00, executive producer at WUSA9
Katie Suiters ’10, senior producer for Cox Media Group’s DC Bureau
Laura Wainman ’10, digital executive producer at WUSA9
Janae Bowens ’13, communications for Sen. Tim Scott
Julie Morse ’13, producer at CBS Evening News
Jeff Ackermann ’14, news producer at WUSA9
John Bowden ’14, reporter for The Hill
Allison D’Amora ’14, producer at WUSA9
Al Drago ’15, photojournalist covering the White House
Gary Grumbach ’16, campaign embed for NBC News
Brianna McClelland ’16, producer for Fox News Channel
Caroline Brehman ’18, photojournalist for Roll Call
Paul LeBlanc ’18, breaking news reporter for CNN Politics