This month, I was honored to speak with Mr. Mike Kirby, a journalist and former student at Bishop Feehan. This year is his 50th anniversary of graduating from Feehan, and this is how it went:
(N.B.) What first interested you to get into journalism?
(M.K.) I’ve always been a big sports fan. When I was a junior at Feehan, I took a creative writing course that I really enjoyed and really did well in. Even though my grades were better in math than English, I decided I would try to be a sports writer.
(N.B.) What different journalism jobs have you performed?
(M.K.) I attended Emerson College in Boston and landed internships in the sports departments at The Sun Chronicle and the Pawtucket Times. When The Sun Chronicle internship ended, the staff asked me to stay on as a part-timer, mostly collecting high school sports results and occasional features.
In December 1980, about a year and a half after I graduated from Emerson, a full-time position news reporter opened at The Sun Chronicle so I took it. I covered the town of Norton, then North Attleboro and then Attleboro before becoming a general assignment reporter.
In 1986, I was named a local news editor. I gradually took editing positions with more responsibility. One of those was the Sunday editor, where I oversaw the entire, then very large, Sunday edition. I later became the managing editor, the number 2 position in the newsroom, and on January 1, 2005, I was named editor-in-chief.
I stayed in that position until March 17, 2017, when I left as the newspaper was downsizing. Since then, I have worked as a freelancer for The Sun Chronicle, and have written for a few golf publications.
(N.B.) How has journalism changed since you first entered the field?
(M.K.) It’s completely different. The internet and social media have upended the legacy media, especially print products. Print products just squeak by financially, if they can survive at all.
(N.B.)What did you like about Feehan?
(M.K.) Pretty much everything. The teachers were mostly good, I had good friends and the school overall was welcoming. I played baseball and basketball and really enjoyed that.
(N.B.) Was it easy to make friends at Feehan, and are you still friends with them today?
(M.K.) Very easy to make friends. There are about a half dozen of us who still get together now and then for dinner or some other event.
(N.B.) What was your personal favorite class at Feehan?
(M.K.) Both my creative writing classes were great. It’s so long ago I don’t remember a lot of the others.
(N.B.) Are you excited for your 50th reunion at Feehan?
(M.K.) Yes, I’m looking forward to it. A few people are going that I haven’t seen since we received our diplomas 50 years ago.
(N.B.) Were you involved in journalism when you were at Feehan?
(M.K.) There were no real opportunities for journalism at Feehan back then. Trust me, Feehan students today have a lot more resources available to them than 50 years ago.
(N.B.) Any advice for up and coming journalists at Feehan?
(M.K.) It’s a very difficult field now. I probably would have still chosen journalism, but it unlikely would be in newspapers or magazines as I had hoped. Overall, though, I encourage journalists to be tough, honest and fair.
Happy 50th anniversary at Feehan to Mr. Kirby, and happy summer to all students of the school.
