Elon University Class of 2015 Alumni Al Drago works with Elon reporting students
Multimedia reporting by Julia Lescarbeau
Al Drago developed a passion for photography at an early age. He found a love for photojournalism, further enhanced by his education at Elon University. During his time at Elon, he was actively involved with The Pendulum and Elon Local News. He had several photojournalism internships including at the Durham Herald-Sun, the Burlington Times-News, the Raleigh News & Observer and The Baltimore Sun. He additionally spent a semester studying international journalism in Morocco. After Elon, he was hired as a photographer for Roll Call in Washington, DC., and today he works as a contract press photographer for The New York Times, where he covers the White House, Congress and national politics.
He covered the final months of the Obama presidency, the presidential transition, and the inauguration and first 100 days of President Donald Trump. He is one of three photographers for the Times that follows the president everywhere he goes, whether it’s in the motorcade for a speech down the street or traveling on Air Force One to accompany the president on a weekend trip.
The following is a live blog of his presentation to a reporting class in Elon’s School of Communications Friday morning. 
9:25 Students entered and took their seats as Drago set up and joked with students, bonding over the Elon journalism student experience.
9:27 Professor Janna Anderson addressed the class to frame the speaker and offer journalism students advice for covering Drago’s presentation.
9:28 Drago takes a selfie for his Snapchat while Anderson speaks.
9:30 “What’s up? Friday morning, we awake?” Al begins his discussion with students.
“Exactly two years ago, I was in this class. Time has truly flown by.”
9:32 “This is me, 2005.” Al shares a photo of himself “pre-Snapchat” when he first began taking pictures.
9:33 Al shares a series of photos of holidays, showing that journalists take no days off and work on holidays but that it is all worth it.
9:34 “I got to jump in head first,” he says when describing his passion for photography, discovered at a young age.
9:35 “My Elon experience was based around the journalism that I did and that I committed.” He shared that it was nice to have a full photo archive of his four years of college.
9:36 During his early years of college, Drago made an “internship dream board” broken down into tiers of reach. “I’m totally going to work there some day, I wasn’t sure but now I am,” he said, referring to his current position at the New York Times.
9:38 Drago describes the student journalism divide at Elon during his time as a student. “This was when ELN and the Pendulum were at battle, like that Shakespeare play,” he joked.
9:39 “I cover everyone the same way,” Drago said describing his objectivity when reporting on politics.
9:40 Drago describes the travel pool that travels with the President, including in the motorcade and Air Force One.
9:41 Students ask questions about student projects and advice on getting your dream internship.
9:42 Drago shares a photo and story excited, “I took this for this class! This was a blog post for my Reporting for the Public Good blog!”
9:43 The photo portrays a triple-homicide in Chapel Hill that he had tweeted from the scene of the crime. The photo had gone viral on Twitter and Drago stressed the importance to always get credit and payment for your work- even as a student.
9:44 “I got this FaceTime call from the BBC, they filled me in and then gave me an on- air hit and I was able to stay with the story,” he said.
9:45 “This was when I saw my photo on the New York Times for the first time, it was crazy.”
9:46 He tells a story of driving to Baltimore to cover a story, writing his senior capstone paper in the backseat during the drive. “It was due the next day,” he joked.
9:47 “But how do you do this yourself?” he asks. He emphasizes the importance of networking and how he reached out to photographers regularly to share work and gain advice.
9:51 Drago discusses the hard life of a photojournalist, working two jobs and working long hours. “I’d sleep from 5 a.m. until 2 p.m. and do it all over again the next day. But I loved it so it was fine,” he said.
9:52 How to get that dream job? “I knew what I wanted so I worked non-stop,” he said. He told us how he watched videos, went to conferences, signed up for workshops and never stopped working to improve his work.
9:53 “You put your head down and work hard for 5 years out of college and then you can go off the grid and earn it. Work hard now and play later.”
9:55 Drago describes the photojournalist community and how they work together and photograph each other.
9:56 A student asks about balancing news coverage with classes.
9:57 “I went to them and said what I did, I hope you respect that.” Drago utilized open communication early on to make sure professors understood his work ethic and dedication to photojournalism.
9:58 “Senior spring, I purposely took 8 a.m. classes and then I’d go to work.”
10:00 Drago shares his top 8 tips for journalism. “It would be Top 10, but we’re on a deadline right?” he joked.
10:02 “I’m still networking!” Drago says. He tells us he is going to meet with idols later today at the Elon Communications Advisory Board.
10:03 “Talk to real people and learn the community. Smile and make some friends!”
10:04 “Protests are the new brunch,” Drago advises students to remember, if you’re covering a story, you’re a journalist and need to remain objective. “The best way to help a cause, is by doing your job effectively.”
10:05 Drago emphasizes the need to know and own your own personal brand.
10:07 “Did you guys see that Facebook has a story thing now?” Drago laughs and tell us to roll with it and be excited about it. “Remember Vine? That was a thing.”
10:09 Drago tells us that his current job wasn’t advertised but he kept working. “Reach out right now and you will get hired by them. There’s a good chance the Times hired me because I annoyed and emailed them so much.”
10:10 Drago talks about journalism tools- both physical and figurative.
10:12 “We are hungry and thirsty to get the best content for our readers,” says Drago.
10:13 Drago discusses his love of Snapchat and how he used to just use it in college for fun, with his friends at parties.
10:13 “Buzzalert! Snapchat prioritizes content creation over consumption. Instagram flips that formula.” Drago discusses the different uses for the two platforms.
10:15 Drago tells us to embrace the platforms and medium.
10:18 Drago answers a question regarding broadcast versus social media packages, emphasizing that each platform is for a different need and audience.
10:19 “This is a cool quick story, I know we are running out of time.” Drago was assigned to shoot a story about a Wizard of Oz themed amusement park, shown in one Instagram post and an Instagram story. He shows the post, highlighting caption and tagging efforts, and students were able to watch the Instagram video from that day’s assignment.
10:22 “It is all mobile, no fancy cameras,” he says.
10:27 Drago tells students to hook viewers from their first post so audiences turn on their volume and continue following the story.
10:28 “I was 16 and wanted to be a newspaper photographer. I took a risk to go on the TV side and now I have this whole other thing that I do in social reporting.”
10:29 Drago tells us to know how to do everything, but focus on your own skill. “Know your main thing,” he says.
10:30 “For all of these photos, I could show you a lot of photos of things I missed. You have to find a balance but I dedicate myself to my work. Working hard and having fun will pay off.”
10:32 Drago gives us brief timeline of his professional career and poses for journalism student photos.
10:35 Drago thanks his audience and encourages students to reach out to him for anything.
For more information on Al, feel free to visit his page and follow him on SnapChat @aldrago or Instagram @al_drago. Watch his “one week in Snapchat” video posted below!
Julia Lescarbeau 