By Miranda Donnell | BG Falcon Media intern
Ben Marrison, a BG News alum and former journalist and editor of The Columbus Dispatch, now serves as Chief of Staff for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office after a distinguished 30-year journalism career. Ben’s career reflects his commitment to serving the public good, in both his work as a journalist and in government leadership.
Ben describes himself as a “product of Watergate,” which explains how the political scandal sparked his fascination with journalism at an early age. In the fourth grade, he convinced his teacher to let him create a newspaper for the elementary school in his hometown Ashtabula, Ohio. This was the beginning of what would be a long career dedicated to public service.
A journalism major, he attended the Ashtabula branch of Kent State University for two years before transferring to Bowling Green State University. He said the journalism professors and The BG News played a key role in his decision to attend BGSU.
Ben honed his journalism skills while at BGSU, and specifically credits The BG News.
“The BG News I think was very foundational and fundamental in my growth and teaching me what you really needed to do,” he said.
Daily critiques from student media director Bob Bortel proved beneficial. Ben said Bob would post everyone’s stories on the bulletin board, with mistakes marked in a red pen for anyone walking by to see. The critiques were fair and constructive.
“That was so valuable to me because you worked hard so that Bob would write ‘nice lead’ or ‘good story’ or ‘great transition,’ something positive. You worked really hard for that,” he said.
BGSU also introduced Ben to his wife and falcon Flame, fellow journalism major Ellen.The two shared an 8 a.m. class before meeting at the BG News and later worked at the local bowling alley together before becoming a couple. Ellen also pursued a career in journalism before transitioning to public relations and marketing.
After graduating in 1985, Ben began his career as a reporter, first for The Toledo Blade for five years, then six years with The Plain Dealer. In 1996 he became the Statehouse Bureau Chief at The Plain Dealer. While still working as a writer, he was also in charge of managing a team of reporters.
During his time as a reporter, Ben wrote many stories that had an impact on the community. While at The Plain Dealer, he wrote a story about a Chinese orphanage he visited during China’s one-child policy. At the time, Chinese women could not own property, so a son was often preferred.
“What was happening was a lot of female babies were showing up in orphanages because they’re trying to have a boy to leave property to,” Ben said.
After Ben’s story was published there was a spike in Chinese adoptions from the Cleveland area. Ben’s career as a reporter was spent serving the public good and impacting the communities around him.
Ben became the editor of The Columbus Dispatch in 1999, where he served for nearly 16 years. In this role, he oversaw managing budget, production, content, and people. He recruited people to create and manage a team that he knew would bring success and quality journalism.
“It was interesting helping direct coverage as opposed to doing it,” he said. “But I learned that I could get as much enjoyment out of seeing my team do great work as I could doing it myself, and you never know until you do it.”
An investigative series at The Columbus Dispatch exposed the Columbus public school system for disenrolling students with poor test scores to improve district report cards. The story led the Ohio Auditor at the time Dave Yost to launch a statewide investigation of the data scrubbing. This established a professional connection between Ben and Yost.
After leaving The Columbus Dispatch in 2015, Yost offered Ben a job as his Director of Communications. This job was the opposite side of the notebook than he was used to, and he had no prior interest in working in government. Nevertheless, he accepted the position.
“I thought, ‘I’ll try this, and if I hate it, I’ll leave,’” he said.
He found that he was able to help the government communicate and knew what information reporters would want from them. He used the skills and knowledge he built as a journalist to excel in this new position and brought his journalistic values of transparency and accuracy into government communication.
“For me, it was kind of a win-win. We’re going to put out everything that I know the media wants and we’re going to answer the media’s questions truthfully and quickly,” said Ben.
Dave Yost was elected the Ohio Attorney General in 2019, and Ben was assigned to put together his new staff. He was head of the transition team and became the Attorney general’s Chief of Staff.
“My value here is that I’m not a partisan, I’m not an attorney. I’m just somebody who’s not afraid to ask tough questions,” Ben said.
Ben credits his journalism background for preparing him to succeed in any field, noting the versatility and value of the skills that journalists possess.
“Your skills are so easily transferred to doing just about anything you want to do because journalists have to be smart, they have to be nimble, they have to be well organized, they have to manage time well, they face deadlines repeatedly. They’re just exceptionally well equipped to do other things,” Ben said.
Ben encouraged journalists to embrace career risks and explore new opportunities that may seem unconventional.
“Don’t be afraid to take chances in your career because you have no idea what’s behind door number one, door number two, or door number three. So be willing to lean into something, take a risk, and try new things,” he said. “Because journalists have skills that lots of other people don’t.”