A strong foundation paves the way to success

Jami Floyd '86

Tune in to ABC's 20/20 any Friday night and chances are you'll see news correspondent Jami Floyd '86 reporting on issues ranging from DNA testing and linguistic profiling to police corruption and the war in Iraq.

But years ago, if you had told Floyd that one day not only wouldn't she be a practicing attorney but she'd be on television in one of the most popular newsmagazines in the nation, she would have politely said you were crazy. A courthouse was the only stage this political science major was preparing for, a jury the only audience she craved.

" I wanted to be a lawyer since childhood. I have no memory of wanting to do anything else," she said. "The fact that I'm not practicing law today alarms me almost on a daily basis because I was so committed to that."

In fact, while most of her peers were riding bikes and playing games, Floyd was sitting in a courthouse in downtown Manhattan studying attorneys, judges and juries. "My father would take me to watch trials whenever he had time," she explained.

On her way to realizing her childhood dream of becoming an attorney, Floyd completed her undergraduate study at Binghamton. While at the University, she was a resident assistant at College-in-the-Woods (CIW) and spent time as a disc jockey at WHRW and the Pub.

" Jami was one of the most energetic and brilliant RAs I have ever worked with," said Fran Hornick, an administrative assistant in the CIW office who remains in contact with Floyd. "In addition to her resident assistant duties, she helped organize events for CIW including Woodsjam, a lip synch contest that is still carried on today!"

Following graduation from Binghamton, Floyd graduated with honors from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley. She began her career at the California Supreme Court as a law clerk, and then joined a law firm where she practiced civil and criminal law. Next, Floyd joined the Office of the San Francisco Public Defender to continue her work as a trial attorney. In 1993 she moved to Washington, D.C., to serve as a White House fellow.

Floyd's first White House assignment was in Hillary Clinton's office and later she worked in the office of Al Gore. Throughout the fellowship, she worked on policy-related issues such as the Brady Bill and health care. Floyd explained that she was involved in "shaping law, not practicing it."

" The White House Fellowship was my first step away from the law," Floyd said. "It opened my eyes to possibilities I hadn't considered before because I was so focused on my law degree and practice. Before the fellowship I'd never thought of having a career in the media, business or anywhere else -- and I never did get back to practicing law after that."

Upon completing her work at the White House, Floyd accepted another fellowship, this time to teach law at Stanford University. At this point, the O.J. Simpson trial was taking place. Floyd realized the trial presented a tremendous educational opportunity. She focused her teaching on the intersection between the law and media and how coverage of a case can not only affect a trial's outcome, but also the proceedings and the day-to-day judgments by a jury and judge.

While Floyd recognized the significance of the trial as it related to her teaching, she didn't know it would change her life.

Living in San Francisco, Floyd listened to trial commentary on local radio station KPIX. She was impressed with the legal analyst, whom she had worked with previously, but felt the station's coverage lacked the perspective of a woman or a person of color. When she wrote the news director to express her concern, he called and asked her to join them.

" I went on air that afternoon. I did one hour of radio and I loved it!" she recalled. "People were calling in and asking really smart questions about what was going on in the courtroom and why we presume someone to be innocent until proven guilty. For me, that was the beginning of a career in broadcasting because I realized I could have that dialog with millions of people."

Floyd soon had a regular radio talk show, and then moved into television. For two years she was an anchor and news correspondent for Court TV before joining ABCNews in 1998. Since that time she has served as a general assignment correspondent for World News Tonight and co-anchored World News Now and the Early Morning News. As the network's law and justice correspondent from 1999 to 2002, she also contributed to Nightline, Primetime and Good Morning America. In January 2003 she became a member of the 20/20 team.

" The ability to connect with so many people continues to be my motivation for remaining in this business rather than practicing law," said Floyd.

Throughout her education and career, Floyd said she was lucky to have had many mentors. She is grateful for these people, and continues the tradition by mentoring those coming up behind her.

Among the individuals who helped Floyd achieve her dreams was former Binghamton University professor Edward Weisband.

" In my freshman semester I took a seminar from Weisband called Freedom and Identity, where he taught us how to undo the puzzle of how we view the world and then try to put it back together," she recalled. Floyd enjoyed the challenge of Weisband's courses so much she continued to take his classes throughout her four years at Binghamton. She also served as a teaching assistant to the professor. "To this day, my assessment of world politics continues to be informed by the way he taught us to think about the world," she added.

Other Binghamton instructors who had a profound impact on Floyd included lawyer Rick Hill (who still lectures on business law) and journalism professor Pete Benjaminson (who is no longer at the University).

" These people had one thing in common," Floyd said, "They didn't want their students to see the world in a lazy, passive sort of way. They wanted us to view it critically and be active thinkers and participants."

The strong background in critical thinking Floyd gained from Binghamton has been beneficial throughout her career. In addition, she believes the diversity she found at the University has helped her handle the challenges of working in the male-dominated fields of law and news.

" Binghamton was a very supportive and comfortable place," she said. "Even though as a woman of color at Binghamton I was in a minority, I always felt my views were well represented and even valued because they were different. At Binghamton I realized I could be different and still enjoy tremendous success."

-- Natalie Blando-George