Lifelong journalist brings passion to CC

Photo: Ben Mackall

For Diane Alters, journalism is more than a job. It’s a passion, an inspiration; it’s a way of life and a way of thinking. Over the course of her career, she’s worked at newspapers large and small, covering local, statewide and national issues. She’s followed a presidential campaign, taught multiple journalism classes, and is currently writing a book. Now, with all that experience, Alters is teaching Introduction to Journalism at CC.

After graduating from Grinnell College in 1971, Alters started her career in journalism at a small collective alternative paper in Santa Barbara.

“There were weekly news meetings with everyone on the staff, including the guy who swept the office,” she said with a chuckle. “It was not only a newspaper but a democracy.”

From there she moved to various news outlets across the nation, working in Idaho, Seattle and Sacramento before heading to Harvard for her Master’s degree in Public Administration.

“I wanted to look at policy,” she said. “I had written about local and statewide issues and I wanted to learn more about the national issues.”

A few years after graduating from Harvard in 1985, Alters hit the road as a presidential campaign reporter for the Boston Globe.

“I followed George Bush Sr.’s campaign in ’88,” she said. “I got married one month before I left on the campaign bus. I was on the road for 13 months and I saw my husband for about three weeks the whole time,” she said, shaking her head.

“I learned a lot about myself and a lot about journalism,” she said about the trip. “I learned that I really liked in-depth stories better. I got to be pretty good friends with the Bushes, too. Barbara used to sit next to me on the press plane and lambast me about some article in the Globe!” 

After her experience on the campaign trail, Alters and husband Mario Montaño, future CC Anthropology professor, moved to Colorado Springs. There she worked at the Colorado Springs Gazette and at the Denver Post. However, after getting laid off in 2007, Alters decided to try something new: writing a book.

“I’m currently writing a book on thrift stores and the culture of thrifting,” Alters said with a smile. “I wanted to see how people were dealing with the recession. In 2007, people were losing jobs right and left – including me.”

Alters’ research involved working at a thrift store, interviewing employees, and shopping with customers.

“My book is about who shops in stores and why,” she said. “It’s mostly interview-based. At the height of my research, I was spending maybe 8-10 hours a week in thrift stores.”

“I wanted to look at how attitudes towards secondhand clothes have changed because of the economy,” she continued. “I examined the idea that thrifting is not icky and only for poor people.”

Alters explained that the rules concerning attire and dress have changed over the years.

“If you look at [Alfred] Hitchcock’s movies, there are rules about how to dress. Suits, skirts, pumps, white gloves. There’s nothing like that that today,” she said with emphasis.

“People are struggling to figure out the rules. With thrift stores, people can experiment with style.”

The social status associated with consumption has also changed as a result of the struggling economy, said Alters.

“Conspicuous consumption is no longer a good thing,” she explained. “There’s some squeamishness surrounding it. Luxury goods have certainly lost ground.”

Alters personally shops at thrift stores “all the time”. When asked about her greatest finds, she paused for a few seconds to mull it over.

“Wow, I’ve gotten so much from thrifting!” she said with a laugh. “My best find was probably my $1400 Henry Beguelin purse that I got for $10. Also, the first time I ever went thrifting, I got my favorite sweater of all time. It was a heavy wool cardigan, dark green, probably five sizes too big. But I just loved it.”

While she was writing and researching her book, Alters also moved into education, teaching at CU-Denver, Denver University, and, eventually, CC.

This block is not her first time teaching at CC; Alters taught an extended summer class here. However, this is her first time on the block plan. 

“I like the block plan a lot,” she said. “I like its intensity. Students have deadlines and I have deadlines. My idea is that the students are journalists. Because I think it’s all practice.”

Compared to students at other schools, Alters said she enjoys teaching CC students the most.

“You guys are so into it – you have a lot of curiosity. I think a liberal arts curriculum is the perfect background for journalism. CC students learn critical thinking early on,” she said. “The students and the school have a commitment to writing. It’s just a pleasure to go into a class like that.”

Most of all, Alters hopes students gain critical thinking skills from her class; she believes these are the most valuable. 

“In many ways, journalism is different than anything else. There’s an extremely high standard of truth. To reach it, you have to think critically, constantly,” she said. “I want my students to take their native curiosity and to use the things learned in class to do real journalism.”