“The Energetic Pursuit of What’s True”

Rex Smith’s career was launched at age 7, when he created a neighborhood newspaper, The Maywood Roundup.

A year later, Rex ’80CJN moved from Illinois to the Black Hills of South Dakota. As an undergraduate student in Texas, he worked as an intern for two newspapers and then took a job as editor of a small daily in Indiana right after graduation.

Next, he headed to Washington, D.C., to serve as press secretary to an Indiana congressman. After four years on Capitol Hill, the lure of journalism was irresistible. 

“These were the years just after Watergate, when reporters were often seen as heroes,” he said. “I knew that working in politics had sort of tainted me, and I wouldn’t be viewed as a fair broker of information. I also knew that I wasn’t a good enough journalist to function at the level of my aspirations.” 

He enrolled in Columbia Journalism School (CJS).

“Columbia was—and remains—the world’s best journalism school,” he said, “I thought it would be good for a kid from South Dakota to learn journalism in New York City.”

At Columbia, he was one of 10 students who participated in the weekly “Media and the Law” seminars run by Fred Friendly and Benno Schmidt Jr. Rex was also part of a team that produced a documentary film about Manhattan’s housing problems. “Our class was very tight,” he said. “We still are.”

The pace was intense and exhilarating. “I had an apartment downtown and was engaged in reporting projects all over the city,” he recalled. “There was a transit strike in the spring of 1980, so for a while I had to bike to campus. It’s uphill! Then our film crew would squeeze into a classmate’s VW to shoot in Tribeca or Soho.”

Rex still counts Columbia’s legendary investigative reporting professor Mel Mencher as one of his most influential mentors.
 “He cultivated the image of an ogre, but we all benefited from his rigorous teaching and high standards,” he said.

More than just technique, Rex says, CJS teaches a rigorous journalistic mindset and the ethical expectations of great journalism. 

“It imbues students with a commitment to the energetic pursuit of what’s true,” he said. “I think that whatever fields its grads pursue, those standards go with them—and not only to people who become journalists, but public affairs practitioners, money managers, or business leaders.”

A week after graduation, Rex was hired at Newsday for a five-month reporting position. He stayed for 11 years, becoming a bureau chief and national correspondent.

“There is no way I would have gotten that job without the training and connections from Columbia,” he said. “That was an ambitious newsroom at the time, one of the nation’s best. It was a great place to practice journalism.”

Rex moved on to Troy, New York, to become editor of the Troy Record. Hired away by the Albany Times Union, a larger competing paper that covers the Capital Region metro area, he served as managing editor/news for seven years and editor and vice president for another 18.

Now retired from the Times Union, Rex writes a weekly Substack newsletter, The Upstate American. For 25 years, he has hosted a nationally syndicated public radio program, The Media Project, featuring a panel of veteran journalists. 

He has also pursued another lifelong passion. A baritone with Albany Pro Musica, one of the Northeast’s premier choral ensembles, he is president of its board of directors.

Giving back to CJS is a “truly wonderful feeling,” Rex said. “I get a lump in my throat as I think about my graduate years, which is hardly a mark of the tough-guy journalist I fancied my youthful self as I swaggered through the halls of the J-school.”

Today, Rex is chair of the Alumni Board at the Journalism School. A former chair of the Development Committee, he has served as class agent for Alumni Weekend. He is a member of the Dean’s Circle and the 1754 Society and an annual contributor to Giving Day and the Spring Challenge.

His wife, Marion Roach Smith, is a nationally recognized author and online memoir writing coach whose books include The Memoir Project. Their daughter, Grace, 26, works in Washington politics. 

His wife’s example prompted his bequest to the Journalism Annual Fund. A trustee of her undergraduate alma mater, she had made a legacy gift of her own. 

“It occurred to me: Why haven’t I done this for Columbia, a place I love and which changed my life?” Rex said. “It seems to me that a legacy gift is a statement of devotion. It says that you care about an institution and want your gratitude to be apparent even after your demise.” 

“I don’t think the amount is as important as the point that a legacy gift makes,” he continued. “It’s great to give generously if you can while you’re alive—it feels good, so why not enjoy that warm feeling while you can? However, a legacy gift is a marker that extends your generosity beyond your lifetime.”

A 1754 Society Ambassador for CJS, Rex acknowledged that it’s not always easy for journalists to make the kinds of high-profile gifts that come from donors in higher paying professions, but that every gift matters.

“We all care about preserving great journalism,” he said. “Our gifts help make it possible for future generations of journalists to carry on the important works of truth-telling that Columbia inspires. We can help to make sure that journalism that matters exists long after we’re gone.”