Journalist and Alumnus Ben Bergman ’00 Attributes Adventurous Spirit to SAAS

Written By: Gena Wynkoop, Editorial Content Manager

Ben Bergman ’00, a Senior Correspondent at Business Insider and a Seattle Academy alumnus, has had a storied career (no pun intended). 

He started his journalism career at an interesting time. With advancements in technology, the rise of social media, as well as the myriad of new mediums for storytelling altering the journalistic landscape, Ben can confidently say he is adaptable.

From newspaper to television, to radio to podcasting, to diving head-first into a new “beat,” Ben has a lot of natural comfortability trying new things. A lot of this comfortability developed during his time as a SAAS student from 1996 to 2000. 

“My advice to SAAS students would be to take advantage of the time. Try not to be wasteful of your time there,” said Ben. “SAAS is such a great place, such a special place.”

Ben walked the walk; from being in theater to taking speech and debate classes to stepping out of his comfort zone and joining the basketball team, he took advantage of everything that SAAS offered.

“I signed up for every activity, and I’m glad I did,” recalls Ben. “It’s the same in college. You’d be surprised how few people go up and talk to a professor after class. That’s how I got my New York Times internship, through a professor that I became close with.”

Ben, currently reporting on venture capital, tech, and startups, started his journalism career where most budding journalists hope to ever have the chance to end up – The New York Times.

The internship began during his senior year of college when he was recommended by one of his professors from his alma mater, Occidental College.

“I was super lucky to land that internship. I found out later that I wasn’t actually supposed to be writing for the newspaper, but I did anyway.” He wasn’t supposed to have bylines, but in his natural go-for-it spirit, he was published as an intern at the New York Times. 

Mic drop.

“That’s sort of a mentality I’ve always tried to have in my career, that its better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission, because in this case, I was already a published writer in the New York Times,” Ben smiles. “I actually remember the stories I wrote very well. I wrote a story about putting a bounty on gas mowers in LA, and I wrote about the first Saudi candidate for Congress.”

 

After his successful internship with the New York Times, he got a call from NPR.

“When I graduated from Occidental, NPR asked if I wanted to come for three months on a temporary gig. I had to relocate to Washington D.C., but I thought, ‘Why not?’ It’s NPR!” said Ben. “I grew up listening to NPR, and I couldn’t believe I had the chance to work there.”

That three-month temporary gig turned into an eight-year steady job both at the D.C. office and the flagship in Los Angeles. His roles included producer of the Morning Edition, and in LA, KPCC as a reporter and host. 

After truly cutting his teeth as a multimedia journalist, it was time for another challenge. He applied for a fellowship at Columbia Business School, the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship in Economics and Business Journalism which was the beginning of his interest in covering business topics.

“Initially going into Columbia, I was more interested in politics. I was a politics major, but then I sort of became interested in business after the financial crisis and great recession. I felt, next to politics, it was comparatively under-covered.”

It was a big risk for Ben to leave his comfortable career at NPR in public radio, but in order for him to reach his goal of becoming a tech journalist, it was a necessary step to take.

“I wanted to reinvent myself as a tech journalist. That’s pretty unusual for folks to step away from something like NPR. It involved a lot of risk, and it wasn’t clear at that time that it was going to work out,” reflects Ben.

Without that risk, Ben wouldn’t be where he is now, covering what he loves.

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“I’m really drawn to stories in business, both the good and the bad. It’s a trip, especially covering tech because it has such an influence on our daily lives.”

Ben enjoys translating tough concepts for the everyday reader. “Startups and venture capital are very opaque because they are not publicly traded companies. Anything I can bring in terms of revealing things about companies, I think, people find valuable.”

Risk-taking, being able to pivot and try new things is something that Ben is not unfamiliar with, especially during his time as a high school student at SAAS.

“I would say what I remember more than two decades later is not so much the classes but the experiences. Like performing on stage as the Major General in ‘Pirates of Penzance’ or Scrooge in ‘A Christmas Carol,’ or doing vocal ensemble, or dance, or spending weeks in Alaska or the Colorado trip.”

When recalling the things that made Ben feel the most out of his comfort zone, he notes joining the basketball team or going on outdoor trips. 

“Those extra activities were so valuable and paid dividends for where I am now,” said Ben. “When I have anxiety dreams it’s not about going on CNN or on the radio, but it’s about when I was back in school – I’m about to go on stage, and I’m forgetting my lines!”

Ben knew in high school that he wanted to be a journalist. He attributes his time in speech and debate and going to nationals as building those foundations for his future.

“When I went to SAAS, I wanted to be Bob Costas. I loved documenting things. The outdoor trips, and the track team video–I loved writing, and I loved participating in speech and debate. I think all those things prepared me very well for what I do now, which is needing to think and write quickly.” 

Now as a seasoned journalist, having worked with many prestigious and notable news organizations, his favorite thing about journalism remains steadfast: all of the interesting places he goes and the people he meets.

“Part of the reason I love journalism is the people I get to meet and interview,” reflects Ben. “I got to do three interviews with the Dalai Lama which was incredible. I had a two-hour dinner with Jamie Dimon, the CEO of CitiGroup. I interviewed Pete Carrol after the Superbowl, so you know, I love getting that front-row seat for history.”

With the evolving landscape of news media, Ben shared advice for young students interested in entering the journalism field.

“Nowadays, anyone can write or speak well. Anyone can host a podcast or write a blog,” he said. “What’s important is the subject matter expertise. In my experience, I thought, if I can be one of the most knowledgeable people about venture capital, that would be very valuable.”

“It’s not really about aggregating information because we see ChatGPT and everything. But with that subject matter expertise and sources and contacts – that’s what really matters.”

Now, 23 years after his high school graduation, Ben is still closely involved with SAAS. He makes an effort to attend alumni events in Los Angeles where he currently resides and will be a featured alumni panelist and moderator at the fall SAAS Summit Event in October highlighting Entrepreneurship and Innovations. Hosted at SAAS, this community event will be a multi-modal experience - part forum, think tank, laboratory and networking experience all in one setting.

Last spring, Ben was invited as a guest speaker at the 2023 SAAS in the City fundraising event. In his speech, he eloquently said:

“I’m happy all these years later, while SAAS has certainly evolved – the buildings are nicer, the productions are far slicker, and there’s a tennis team, which I would have been far more competitive at than basketball. But still, the core values—the heart of SAAS—which has served me so well, remain very much intact.”

As for his career forward, well I guess you could say, the rest is still unwritten.