Colin Riley said he often tells his daughters to always be kind and “think the best.” 

Riley, the long-time BU spokesperson, said he doesn’t spin news. Despite what some of his friends may say, he simply “tells the truth in the affirmative.” 

“Some of it’s my personality,” Riley said. “But I always try to frame things in the affirmative … That’s basically how I operate.”

Riley, the executive director of media relations at Boston University, retired on Friday after 35 years in the position. During his tenure, he spoke with reporters and editors at publications ranging from The Daily Free Press to The New York Times.

Before coming to BU, Riley worked for the U.S. Postal Service, and on former BU president John Silber’s campaign for governor of Massachusetts. He also interned at the Boston Globe while completing his journalism degree at Northeastern University in 1980.

Though he speaks with high-profile reporters regularly, Riley said the highlight of his job is seeing students graduate.

“Some people get concerned if there’s an issue the University’s involved with,” he said. “You really should recognize we’re in the business of educating and graduating every year 6-to-7,000 people who are going to get great careers and become good citizens.”

Samantha Gross, a reporter at the Boston Globe and BU alum, said she and other editors at The Daily Free Press often spoke with Riley while she was editor-in-chief in spring 2016.

“As a student journalist, to be treated really as just another journalist, as another professional, by someone like Colin Riley really prepares you for the industry where you’re constantly dealing with people like that,” Gross said.

Gross is now vice chair of the alumni board for The Daily Free Press. She said she felt like Riley was available for student journalists, even when stories dealt with sensitive or controversial subjects.

“Colin was always really professional about sitting down with us and hearing our concerns,” Gross said. “There were also just a number of really big news events that were happening when I was at BU, and Colin was always very responsive at all hours.”

Riley has been quoted in The Daily Free Press articles published as early as 2000 and as recently as April 2. 

“I’ve been very fortunate to have crossed paths with a lot of very talented writers and editors,” Riley said. “The New York Times asked me once, ‘Boy, it must be really hard to work with student reporters.’ I’m like, ‘No, not really.’”

J.D. Capelouto, a reporter at Semafor, was a campus news section editor at The Daily Free Press in fall 2015 and editor-in-chief in fall 2016. Capelouto said he talked to Riley often as a member of the campus section and recalled him being “responsive and helpful.”

“There were definitely things that were probably harder for them to comment on than others, which may have frustrated us at the moment,” Capelouto said. “But I definitely understand he operated in good faith, and that’s all you can really hope for with the relationship between a journalist and a PR representative.”

Riley said he has tried to set a standard of “candor and helpfulness” when speaking with student reporters for them to take with them in their careers.

“My whole goal was to, through the years, be as accommodating as possible and helpful as possible, just so that [student journalists] who are doing this and pursuing careers in it will have that experience to make it easy when they’re going to the next interview,” Riley said.

Capelouto said seeking Riley’s comment for Daily Free Press articles was a foundational part of his experience as a young journalist.

“He was definitely one of the first real spokespeople that I regularly engaged with as a reporter,” Capelouto said. “He was probably that person for a lot of journalists out there, a lot of BU alums who are now in journalism.”

Riley’s knowledge of issues and happenings at BU set him apart from other PR professionals, Gross said. 

“He just got it,” Gross said. “He had been at BU for so long, and knew the role of The [Daily Free Press] and knew what questions we would be asking.”

Though the only true spokesperson for BU is the president, Riley said, his role was to be easily accessible and able to explain processes.

“I’ve been doing this a long time, so it’s not something I have to research,” Riley said. “I’m aware of how these policies and practices evolved, and the purpose behind things like that.”

Gross said it’s “weird to think about” a version of BU where the person in charge of communications doesn’t have the knowledge and experience that Riley does.

“Having someone without the same experience and loyalty will just be a very different kind of vibe,” Gross said. “I hope that whoever comes in next can take on that legacy of respecting student media and working with The [Daily Free Press] like they would any other journalist.”

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