Editing Hollywood : One Deadline at a Time

Stephanie Webber ’10 helps shape celebrity stories everyone’s talking about — from visioning viral headlines at the New York Post to mentoring the next generation of journalists.

When reading a New York Post entertainment exclusive, University of Scranton alumni should know that their fellow Royal Stephanie Webber ’10 was involved, from creating the concept to crafting the headline.

“Until my deputy [editor] signs on from LA (Los Angeles) at 2 p.m. every day, I'm the sole editor... Every headline that goes out online, it’s definitely me behind it for the entertainment vertical. ... I love pulling out the juiciest, punchiest quotes,” said Webber, a Paramus, New Jersey native.

Webber, entertainment editor at the Post, works one-on-one with a team of journalists on both coasts, developing content for the 24-hour news cycle, traffic and longer-term features. She discussed a recent project for the Bob Dylan biopic, “A Complete Unknown” — photography of locations filmed in Jersey City and Hoboken, New Jersey, compared with the original settings in Manhattan.

Though she considers her current role as pivotal to her career, Webber credits The University of Scranton alumni network with her entrée to journalism postgraduation.

“I was going through LinkedIn, and I remember reaching out to a Scranton alum I didn't even know, and she put me in touch with someone at Us Weekly … I interned for a few months, and, honestly, it took off from there.”

After her stint as editorial intern, Webber joined a startup, Ology, as entertainment editor, where she began establishing connections in the business and reporting from MTV Movie Awards and NYC Fashion Week.

Her next stop: a return to Us Weekly. “Having that connection from a Scranton alum...they brought me back in and I was there for a decade.”

Within five years, she was elevated to executive editor. In that role, she achieved record-breaking website traffic, managed a team of 20 writers and editors, and interviewed celebrities, including Oscar, Tony and Emmy-award winners and nominees Diane Keaton, Idina Menzel, Seth Rogen and Drew Barrymore (shown above left with Webber.)

When shifts in ownership and management led to layoffs, Webber expertly navigated a path to her current post at the New York Post

“I love mentoring. To this day, I'm still learning and growing, and I don't think that changes in this industry.”

Step Inside Stephanie Webber’s ‘Whoa Moments’

Dream internship assignment, pre-Zoom era, as a fan of the Harry Potter franchise: “There was something so amazing about going to a New York building and being brought up to a room (for an interview) with Rupert Grint.”

• “One whoa moment was a phoner with Diane Keaton. …Those are the kinds of interviews you wish you could have had longer with them.”

• “I love ‘A League of Their Own.’ I went to a roundtable — and it was Penny Marshall’s book. I sat down next to her and thought, ‘Is this real life?’

I watched this film countless times with my sisters growing up.”