Bernadette Hogan ‘17 enters the briefing room and slips on her sunflower-patterned homemade face mask. She refreshes her browser to check her G-chat with her coworkers and awaits the Governor’s arrival.

“Now that the spotlight is really on state government, Governor Cuomo, and New York, you have such a finite amount of time. You have to see what you can do at that press conference,” Hogan said on the phone with the Marist Circle, debriefing after her morning run in the Capital Region.

Meanwhile, Jeff Holmes ‘14 stands by Mayor Bill DeBlasio’s side, helping him run seamlessly through the boroughs, clapping on the side of the city streets to honor medical personnel. Both Hogan and Holmes are “essential” workers holding distinct roles in how the State deals with the virus that’s shaken it to its core.

Bernadette Hogan is a political reporter for the New York Post at the Albany Bureau, covering Governor Andrew Cuomo. Source: Bernadette Hogan

Hogan, who served as the Marist Circle’s editor-in-chief in 2017, made the move from her home in Rumson, N.J. up to Albany, N.Y. shortly following graduation. Ever since, she’s continued learning the ins and outs of reporting in the State Capital. Today, she works as a political reporter for the New York Post, generating multiple stories and updates on the coronavirus per day.

In the wake of the outbreak, the crowded press briefing room has been traded for a socially-distant seating arrangement, where a small group of reporters sit 6-feet apart from one another. Hogan’s daily routine in the Capitol building in Albany has always been hectic — but now, stakes are higher than ever.

“I get up and I read all the news from my paper and from all my competitors, and I see what the Mayor’s doing at his morning press conference, and see how that impacts or needs to be followed up on the state end,” Hogan said.

Hogan clears her head with a morning run before entering her office in Albany each morning to generate multiple stories for the New York Post each day. Source: Bernadette Hogan

She heads down to the press room about a half an hour prior to the conference, trying her best to limit her exposure to others. She recently attended one of Governor Cuomo’s daily coronavirus briefings at her alma mater when he delivered his May 8 conference at Marist College.

But while some aspects of her daily routine are uprooted by physical guidelines, her reporting practices have stayed the same.

“Just like with anything else, you take yourself out of it, and at the end of the day, I still have a job to be as fair and as best I can be when I’m reporting on it,” Hogan said. “Because this is what I do anyway, just now, we’re dealing with a pandemic.”

Hogan pictured sitting in a socially-distant seat at the Governor’s recent coronavirus briefing at her alma mater, Marist College. Source: Bernadette Hogan

As a communications advisor at the New York City Mayor’s Office, Holmes always has to make sure that he is “checking every box.”

“New York City is obviously an entirely different beast,” said Holmes, who’s worked at the Office for almost a year. “It’s tapping into all of these different communities, and making sure people have the most up-to-date information. I’m lucky enough to work with really smart people who have lived here, and really understand these communities.''

Holmes graduated Marist in 2014 with a major in journalism and a minor in political science. As a founder of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Marist Chapter, the importance of public communication has always been important in his life.

Jeff Holmes ‘14 is a Communications Advisor to New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio. Source: Jeff Holmes

“Strangely, we have developed some sort of rhythm,” Holmes said. Whether it’s applauding medical personnel during shift-change at the hard-hit Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, or working overtime in the office, Holmes said the office has been in “full-steam.”

“It’s been great getting out as much as possible and letting those people know we are working a lot of hours here in the Mayor’s Office,” Holmes said. “It is a combination of getting out the info that New Yorkers need to know to stay healthy, and putting into play the policies that we need to enact in order to make sure people are staying safe and staying home.”

During those first few weeks of the outbreak, adaptation to the current situation was difficult, but necessary. “It’s being able to be as forthright as possible,” he said. “It is kind of working with the policy folks and figuring it out up to late into the night, and then being able to announce something to the whole country.”

Between new physical campaigns like robo-calls and text alerts, the coronavirus has forced the Mayor’s Office to rethink the way they communicate, Holmes said.

“At a time like this you just need to be as open and honest as possible with the people,” Holmes said. “We aren't really sugar coating it, and it’s been a learning experience for me in terms of being able to adapt as quickly as we have been.”

“For me, it’s those 7 p.m. claps. I’ve been lucky enough to be planning on the ground with him for a lot of these moments,” Holmes said.

The clap-outs for essential workers have been a rewarding way to reflect on the nature of the crisis. He stood with his team outside of Bellevue Hospital Center, looking out at the FDNY members and nurses with gratitude.

Jeff Holmes, second from the left, working with Mayor DeBlasio at the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team ticker tape parade in New York City last July. Source: Jeff Holmes

“I’m trying to move people to be their appropriate distances away from one another as they clap, and these hospital workers coming off a long shift have tears in their eyes,” he said. “It kind of puts in perspective who you are trying to protect.”

For Holmes and Hogan both, their work shapes the way the public thinks about the coronavirus, and helps New York cope with the ever-present uncertainty every step of the way.

“It’s also working with folks like Bernadette,” Holmes said. “They have an essential job to do as well. We are all working crazy hours, and it is in everybody’s best interest.”

Pandemic in New York: Alumni Bernadette Hogan ‘17 and Jeff Holmes ‘14 Provide Essential Public Information

MARIST CIRCLE