The Tab alumni newsletter: Washington Post exclusives, Vogue covers and reporting from the campaign trail

The idea of Tab alumni ascending to the commanding heights of global journalism is slightly terrifying, but it seems to be happening nevertheless. People who used to harass uni club promoters to get an exclusive about the chav-themed freshers’ night and write sub-headlines like ‘This is so you and your mates’ are now reporting from Moscow, writing Vogue cover features and breaking major exclusives in the Washington Post.

Here’s our latest alumni report – everyone here was a star Tab writer or editor as a student. 

First, new titles and promotions within Tab Media. Grace Vielma (The Tab Manchester, ‘13) is now The Tab’s Editor-in-chief, and Lucy Woodham (The Tab Cardiff, ‘16) is Executive Editor. In our New York office, Josh Kaplan (The Tab Nottingham, ‘15) is Tab Media’s new Head of Audience and Eleni Mitzali (The Tab Nottingham, ‘15) is Head of Operations for Babe, which has had a breakout year.

Gabriel Pogrund (The Tab UCL, ‘16), fresh off winning Young Journalist of the Year at the Press Awards in March, is now making the most of his three months as the Stern Fellow at the Washington Post in spectacular fashion. He was the first reporter to find Brett Kavanaugh’s drinking buddy Mark Judge during the supreme court hearings, and this weekend he wrote a brilliant profile of the mayor of Pittsburgh, who revealed an odd call from Donald Trump soon after the shooting there.

When I asked him about the experience he said he “couldn’t have picked a better time to be in the US or The Washington Post.” I also asked how he got the Mark Judge scoop. Gabriel says:

“Through a tip or two and some investigate work, The Post was able to establish a list of places where Judge could be. I spent hours – well, days – looking for him and was about to give up when I decided to shine my iPhone torch into the back of a car with a Maryland number plate parked near one of the addresses. In a moment I’ll never forget, I saw rumpled clothes, some vintage SuperMan comics and … in the corner of my eye, an envelope with Judge’s name on it. I played the waiting game and when he eventually emerged managed to furtively snap a picture or two of him wearing a baseball cap and sandals — the sort of shoe leather reporting and mischievous hackery and that I learnt whilst doing The Tab.”

Lots more Tab alums have done exceptional work recently. Ellie Pithers (The Tab Cambridge, ‘11) did a cover interview with Primrose Archer for UK Vogue’s December issue. Patrick Maguire (The Tab UCL, ‘16) wrote this outstanding on-the-road feature about Jeremy Corbyn in the New Statesman, where he is on the Westminster reporting staff now (best line, about Corbyn leaving a dreary public meeting at the bet365 Stadium: “Leaving the stadium, he has passed the test of footballing lore: can he do it on a rainy Tuesday in Stoke?”). Big congrats to Tabatha Leggettt (The Tab Cambridge, ‘12) who recently finished a remarkable five years at BuzzFeed UK, where she was one of the most senior editors, to take on a big job in Helsinki at Yle, the BBC of Finland.

Matt McDonald (The Tab Exeter, ‘13) was recently appointed Managing Editor of Spectator USA, based in the States and is already reporting from the campaign trail. Francesca Ebel (The Tab Cambridge, ‘14), who has reported on stories in Russia since uni and now works for the Associated Press in Moscow, wrote this nice feature about her two worlds colliding: Salisbury, where she grew up, and Russia. Babe founder Roisin Lanigan (The Tab Belfast, ‘14) is now an editor at i-D and writes regularly for VICE and Babe – this great piece on the terrible trend of celebrities interviewing celebrities was a recent highlight. 

Karen Ruiz (The Tab Rutgers, ’16) is regularly breaking scoops at the Mail in New York, including this one debunking the TIME cover picture, which led to embarrassment for the magazine. Tiana Lowe (The Tab USC, ’18) just joined the Washington Examiner as a commentary writer in DC, after creating some buzz with her brutal profile of the terrible Candace Owens. And this weekend Adam Crafton (The Tab Cambridge, ‘16), who is already a star football writer at the Mail and recently published a book about Spanish football, was on Sky Sports Sunday Supplement, a slot usually reserved for the greying household names of sports punditry.

Ali Pal (The Tab Cambridge, ‘11) just moved to Delhi for Reuters – here’s his story about the arrival of #MeToo in India. Bobby Palmer (The Tab Leeds, ‘15) went pretty deep into the world of male Instagram influencers in this very funny feature for ShortList, where he is an editor. Phoebe Luckhurst (The Tab Cambridge, ’11) has been writing regular columns in the Standard recently, including this one on modern living. And Oli Dugmore (The Tab Cardiff, ‘15) has been bringing his in-your-face interview style to the major players in Brexit for JOE recently, where he is Head of News and Politics.

There are more inspiring feats to mention from, but I’ll save them for the next alumni report. We regularly have Tab alums come to the office to talk about what they do – if you are a Tab contributor, ask your Assistant Editor when the next event is happening.

If you’re a Tab alum who has a new job or a meaty long read from Chechnya to tell us about, please email [email protected].