Brian Kelly – Editor and CCO, U.S. News & World Report

Our Town with host Andy Ockershausen - Homegrown History

Brian Kelly on Bill Regardie’s thoughts about publishing controversial stories in his magazine~ “I said, ‘Bill, you've got to decide whether you want to be liked or respected.’ It took him about two seconds and he said, ‘Yeah, I want to be respected. Go ahead and run the story.’ That was always Bill's feeling. Even though he is a Washington boy, grew up here, he knew that as an editor, as a publisher, he had to do the right thing for his readers, which was tell the story.” Brian Kelly, Editor and Chief Content Officer, U.S. News & World Report Andy Ockershausen: I'm delighted that we have a star, a journalism star, to be our guest today, and he's been a friend for years. He's so well-known and well-liked by everybody, particularly the people he works for. And, by the way here’s what our friend Bill Regardie had to say about our special guest today. Hiring Brian was the smartest move I ever made. I selected about a quarter of them, and another quarter came over the transom. But hiring Brian away from the Chicago Tribune. Brian used to come in and write for us every two issues. Hiring Brian was like hiring a young Ben Bradlee He was a "fn" killer. I didn't know that when I hired him. He wanted to come in and make his name. Welcome to Our Town Brian Kelly, editor and chief content officer of the U.S. News & World Report. Why should I do that? You've been in Our Town for 20 years, haven't you, 30 years? Kelly Comes to Our Town as Freshman at Georgetown Brian Kelly: More than that, Andy. In 1972 I showed up as a freshman at Georgetown University. Andy Ockershausen: That's right. You went to school here. Brian Kelly: Been a while, yeah. Andy Ockershausen: But you were born in New Jersey, raised in New Jersey, but why would you pick Georgetown? For the law school, obviously, but you didn't go to law school, did you? Brian Kelly: I didn't. The first reason I picked Georgetown was because they let me in. Andy Ockershausen: You couldn't get in now. Brian Kelly: Yale said no, so that was a big change. Yeah, and you're right, I couldn't get in now, but I came here, like most folks, wanting to go to law school. Everybody wanted to be a lawyer in the '70s, and my freshman year I was in the freshman government class with all the other guys who wanted to be lawyers, guys and girls, and I realized that everybody in my class had done the summer reading except for me. Andy Ockershausen: You found that out in the Fall? Brian Kelly: The professor was asking questions about books that I hadn't read, and I thought, "You know, maybe there's got to be a better way here," so that's why I went into journalism. Andy Ockershausen: You mentioned females, or girls, whatever they were at the time. I didn't know Georgetown had them that early, in '72. Brian Kelly: It was fairly new. I think Georgetown went co-ed in '68, '69, something like that, so it was pretty new. There weren't a lot of them on campus. Andy Ockershausen: You never went to the law school when it was downtown Washington. You always were on campus, right? Brian Kelly: Always on the main campus at Georgetown, yeah. Andy Ockershausen: Did you work in Georgetown? A lot of guys I know that went to school there, they worked in bars and restaurants all over Georgetown. Brian Kelly: I went to bars and restaurants, and since I knew a lot of people who worked there, it was very lucrative. Andy Ockershausen: Wonderful evening. Journalism Over Law - Editor of the Georgetown Voice Brian Kelly: I really got into journalism at school. I ran the newspaper at school as the editor of the Georgetown Voice, and it was '72, early '70s, and it was so interesting because I actually ended up writing about Watergate. I wrote about events in Watergate. Pat Buchanan, who was Nixon's press secretary, was a Georgetown graduate, so I interviewed Pat Buchanan. John Sirica, who was the judge who kind of broke the case open, was a Georgetown graduate.