Ever since sixth grade, Larry Kaplan MA '78 had wanted to be a journalist—specifically a newscaster. Growing up on Long Island, he had worked on his school paper and yearbook. Years later in 1975, after earning his undergraduate degree in journalism from Rider University in New Jersey, he'd packed up his mother's '68 Chevy and drove across country with his sister and friends to Los Angeles.
Here in "the land of opportunity," Kaplan got a job as a newsreader for an "elevator music" radio station in the High Desert. It wasn't exactly a great start to his career; Kaplan hated it and spent a lot of time driving around L.A., exploring his new home.
One July day, he went by the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and pulled over for a closer look. This led him to the USC campus, where he spotted the transmitting tower atop the Hancock Building.
"I had an FCC third-class radio telephone operator's license, which meant that I could run a low-power transmitter," he says. "I thought maybe I'd find a radio station inside."
What Kaplan found was award-winning journalist Joe Saltzman, who had recently joined the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism faculty. As it turned out, Saltzman was working on the school's new broadcast journalism program when Kaplan entered the office. They struck up a conversation, and the next thing he knew, Kaplan was applying to the school's graduate program, on Saltzman's recommendation.
Kaplan recalls that "Joe told me he'd fast-track my application, and if I got in, he'd make me a teaching assistant for television production classes."
Although Kaplan had been looking for work, not a graduate degree, the opportunity was too good to pass up.
"I'd always heard that when you move to a new city, the best thing to do is go to school, because all your classmates become friends. At Annenberg, I got to know people I never would have met if I'd gone into the workforce. They became my network."
That network came to include Saltzman, as well as Mike Daniels, a longtime CBS News writer/producer who taught at USC Annenberg. Over the years, Kaplan would often turn to them for advice.
In 1978, three years after that meeting with Saltzman, Kaplan graduated with his master's from USC Annenberg. But after working in broadcast journalism for six months, he decided to switch careers and enter politics.
"I worked on campaigns and ballot measures, mostly in California" he says. "It was very hard work and I did it for nearly 20 years. My last job was for California Senator Barbara Boxer's reelection campaign."
Kaplan then pivoted to the nonprofit world, first serving as the area director for the Trust for Public Land, a national land conservation group. He also worked for both the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and Workplace Hollywood, a nonprofit dedicated to developing, training and placing a diverse workforce behind the scenes in the entertainment industry. Today, he's semi-retired and writes grants for community-based social justice nonprofits, collaboratives and philanthropists, primarily in Southern California.
While his career trajectory took him out of broadcast journalism, Kaplan remains a proud supporter of USC Annenberg. He served on the board of the USC Journalism Alumni Association for many years, including a stint as president, and has mentored several USC Annenberg students. He has also included his alma mater in his estate plans, designated for the USC Annenberg Journalism Fund.
"Being a TA and getting paid a stipend, I basically got a free ride at one of the best schools in the country," he explains. "I feel like I owe USC."