‘More After The Break’

By KiMBerly redMond

After the deadline is met and the segment airs, the media typically moves on in search of the next story to pursue.

That’s just the nature of working in such a fast-paced, 24/7 environment.

But, sometimes, the people featured in those stories are too powerful to ever forget.

That’s exactly what motivated veteran local news reporter Jen Maxfield to revisit some of the most memorable and compelling stories she has covered during the past 20 years.

Maxfield, a Bergen County native and Emmy-award winning reporter, has interviewed over 10,000 people over the years, often meeting those individuals on what may be “the best day of their life — or the worst.”

Since 2013, Maxfield has been a member of the news team at NBC New York, where she covers everything from politics to education to weather to crime to

human interest. And, prior to that, she was a reporter and substitute anchor for Eyewitness News in New York for a decade.

Driven by curiosity, Maxfield followed up on ten stories she said “really stuck” with her, such as the death of Darren Drake, a 32-yearold New Milford man who was among the eight victims killed in an October 2017 terrorist truck attack on the West Side Highway, and Zaina Matahen, a student on board the Paramus school bus that crashed on Route 80 in May 2018 and lost her best friend, 10-yearold Miranda Faith Vargas.

“I found myself still thinking about them and felt it would be interesting to go back and reconnect,” Maxfield explained.

In her debut book, More After the Break: A Reporter Returns to Ten Unforgettable News Stories, Maxfield writes about reaching out to the subjects of past interviews to find out what happened to them after the news cameras stopped rolling.

Released in July by Greenleaf Book Group, More After the Break was an instant Amazon bestseller when it became available for preorder this past winter. It has also landed on many “must read” lists and earned positive reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Kirkus.

While many memoirs penned by journalists tend to follow the journey of their own lives, Maxfield wanted to flip the narrative to focus on the individuals at the center of each story to find out what happened to them.

In her book, Maxfield reconstructs the events that first brought her into the lives of her subjects and then provides updates on what followed in the wake of heartbreak.

Reconnecting with those families, she wrote, can highlight “how little we know about a person when we first report on them. In the days immediately following a tragedy, the only family members who can provide information are the ones who are emotionally capable of speaking with a reporter. We aren’t getting the full story and the story we present is only as informed as the people who are willing to meet with us.”

Maxfield was “astonished” when most people she contacted agreed to be interviewed. But she also said she understands why some respectfully declined, likely because they are not ready to reopen “old wounds.”

As she began speaking with people, Maxfield said the big-

gest theme that emerged was “the triumph of the human spirit.”

She also learned that “constructive change can emerge when unjust or tragic events” are featured on the local news, such as the push for New Jersey officials to make school buses safer for kids and Darren Drake’s parents, Barbara and James, advocating for a federal law named after their son that would stop potential terrorists from renting trucks.

Maxfield also provides behind-the-scenes accounts and candid commentary on what it was like to handle the news assignments, such as the discomfort she felt while covering the stories, as well as reflects on whether her presence “had heightened or mitigated a family’s pain.”

No matter how many years one has been in the business, approaching individuals during their darkest hours never gets any easier. In More After the Break, Maxfield describes “the door knock” as “the part of my job that still forces me far outside my own comfort zone, despite having done it hundreds of times.” “They have the right to say ‘no,’ but my job is to ask the questions and give them a chance,” she explained.

While reporting can often be challenging, Maxfield believes it can also be very rewarding — particularly when it can help effect change for the better. In her book, Maxfield writes that some of “the most important stories” she reports on “are the ones that prompt our viewers to strengthen their connection to their own community: checking on an elderly neighbor before a storm, volunteering at a local hospital or offering a kind word to the person bagging your groceries or delivering your food.”

“I feel very lucky and honored to be able to cover people’s stories,” she said. “It’s a privilege.”

While every day in local news “is a fresh challenge” and “a journey into the unknown,” Maxfield said that’s one of her favorite aspects of the job.

“The vast majority of my colleagues have gone into news for the same reasons I did – we enjoy people and going to new places,” she said.

But, Maxfield says, part of her professional obligation “is to give people the opportunity to speak” and to “treat them with dignity and respect,” while presenting their story in the “best and most accurate light.” Journalism wasn’t necessarily the path Maxfield intended to take.

Growing up in Tenafly, Maxfield was involved in

sports, like soccer and track and field, and wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps to become a sports medicine physician. After graduating from Tenafly High School, Maxfield went on to attend Columbia College of Columbia University as a pre-med student. “But, sort of on a whim, I applied for an internship at CNN at the United Nations,” said Maxfield, who had written for her high school newspaper. The experience inspired the 20-year-old college student to rethink her career direction. During the internship, Maxfield met her very first mentor, Gary Tuchman, a longtime national correspondent at the network, who encouraged her to be engaged in the process of news gathering and gave her a firsthand look at the ups, downs, ins and outs of the business. “It was very exciting, and I was very fortunate,” she said. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1999 and a master’s degree from Columbia

“They get it and drive it over to us PLAN A VACATION WITH JET SET GETAWAYS College’s School of Journalism in 2000. From there, for the day that we are doing that 300 Franklin Ave. #101, Wyckoff Maxfield took a reporting job at WIXT in Syracuse specific activity. He is so easy to and then WIVT in Binghamton before returning to the Tri-State area to join WABC in 2002.work with and so knowledgeable. Summer goes by fast, and many people forget to take time for We are really in a routine every themselves and book a vacation. Between running to and from Maxfield admitted that writing year, so I don’t have to think twice camp for your kids and work, it can turn into a stressful time. More After the Break “was a heavy lift” but that she enjoys challenging about it. And their equipment is Jet Set Getaways is a one-of-a-kind luxury travel agency that herself and was determined to “keep an open mind top notch. You get stuff online that will help you specialize in custom travel arrangements and VIP about the process” — especially as a first-time author.is terrible, but this stuff is real treatments. They have valuable direct relationships with the finquality and has a lifetime guaranest hotels, resorts, spas, cruise lines and tour operations in the As a former staffer on Columbia College’s student tee. It couldn’t be any easier with world as well as an expanded resource of insider destination them; they make my life very sim-knowledge. newspaper, The Daily Spectator, Maxfield enjoys writple.” ing. But, as a reporter and anchor, she usually has 90 seconds to tell a story, which means she must be Set fun goals for yourself. Summer is full of distractions between “very efficient with words.”While Cornell Surgical has only driving your kids to camp, working, and gatherings every other recently stepped out of the shadweekend. Setting summer goals will help you stay productive “We have the benefit of video to accompany stories, ows, it has been making the lives and not feel as if you wasted the summer away. Challenge yourbut an interesting aspect of writing the book was of many people in North Jersey self to see how many books you can read or how many times you that I didn’t have the assistance of video, so I needed simple for three quarters of a cencan get to the beach. Write them down, set a date, and put them to find a way for the reader to see the scenes,” she tury. on display so you don’t forget to accomplish them. Make it fun! explained.

Michelle DeSantis is a Bergen County girl who lives, breathes, eats and sleeps Bergen County. Founder of the blog, The Bergen For 10 months during the COVID-19 pandemic, she Skinny, Michelle is determined to find the best food, fitness, fashion and entrepreneurs in the area. wrote seven days a week — in between working part-Check her out at www.thebergenskinny.com.

time as an on-air journalist and as an adjunct professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, where she teaches broadcast journalism.

Maxfield often found herself writing on the go — a valuable skill she honed over the years. Whether it was for a few minutes before the rest of her family woke up for the day or on her laptop in the car while waiting for her daughters to finish dance class or her son to wrap up ski lessons.

“I hope when people read the book, they enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed researching it and writing it,” she said.

Beyond that, she hopes it inspires readers to “go back to some of their own stories in their lives” and reconnect with people from the past who may have played a significant role.

More After the Break has received accolades from dozens of high-profile individuals, such as former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevy, NYC radio and DJ legend Funk Flex, longtime ABC NY anchor Diana Williams and Bill Bradley, a former U.S. Senator and retired professional basketball player.

Her mentor, Tuchman, said, “The best journalists get into the business because they genuinely care about the good people they cover, as well as the good people who watch, read and listen to their stories. Jen Maxfield is precisely that kind of journalist. More After the Break strengthens your faith in human-

Jennifer with Zaina Matahen When Maxfield is not working, she enjoys spending time with her husband and their three children. Their favorite activities include getting outdoors at Tenafly Nature Center or Flat Rock Brook or visiting one of Bergen County’s vibrant downtowns, like Ridgewood and Englewood.

After living in Upstate New York, Manhattan and Hoboken, Maxfield said she loves that fact that she has returned to her home turf to raise a family.

“Living here was very much an intentional choice,” she said. “I love it here — the people, the education, the diversity of opinion, the small businesses and the beautiful parks.”

She also makes time to give back to the community.

Maxfield is a longtime volunteer with the Center for Food Action, where she founded and chairs the organization’s 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance event. Each year, the initiative provides thousands of weekend snack packs to children in Bergen County.

She is also involved with non-profits including the Bergen Family Center, Women’s Rights Information Center, Jewish Women International, The Opportunity Network, the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation and JCC on the Palisades.

For more information, visit JenMaxfield.com.