Seth Blanchard, a senior editorial developer at the Washington Post was the guest speaker at the fourth and final installment of “AHS Meets the Press” of the school year. The quarterly event held for student journalists took place in Clausen Hall during Pride Time on April 23.

Now working in the engineering and graphics departments at the Washington Post, the goal of Blanchard’s work is to tell stories using emerging technology. In the past year he has used Photogrammetry and Augmented Reality to drive narratives by providing new and engaging visual perspectives for Post readers.

However, Blanchard is relatively new to the world of journalism as he was initially in math and engineering focused careers after studying at Virginia Tech.

“I got into journalism by seeing data visualization online especially web visualization using web technologies,” Blanchard said. “So I was curious in doing that and seeing if I could explore that as a career.”

With this interest in mind, Blanchard pursued a job as an editorial developer at the Washington Post.

“I applied for a job that was an engineering job supporting the website as well as the graphics department doing visualization and graphics,” Blanchard said.

Some of his recent works include “What Remains of Bear Ears” regarding the national monument located in Utah and how politics have impacted federal protections of the region.

Blanchard’s work is extensive and in a broad range of categories including true story of a school shooting titled “12 seconds of gunfire”.

Additionally, his work has been recognized by the Society of News Design, Webby Awards, World Press Photo. Blanchard has received Emmy nominations for his work on The Post’s “Obama’s Legacy” and “Sin Luz: Life Without Power.”

“I thought that his [Blanchard’s] presentation was really interesting because his experiences show that even though you don’t start off on one particular career path, you can pursue something different later on,” senior Elias Moura said.

At the conclusion of his presentation, students had the opportunity to ask Blanchard questions about his journalistic works and adventures.

“I think being able to share the idea that you can apply your experiences to journalism in way that might be different than people that have grown up with what the norms and conventions are is exciting,” Blanchard said. “It shows that you can push the boundaries of what is possible.”