Mar 8th, 2011
C-SPAN Video Conference #1: Dan Rather and Tucker Carlson
Copyright: people.com
“American journalism, in many ways, needs a spine transplant,” Rather said, “We’ve lost some of the grit in our gut.”
This was just one of the many things that Dan Rather had to say about being a journalist and where journalism is in our current social media frenzy of a world.
On February 24, 2011 Dan Rather and Tucker Carlson joined Steve Scully, the political editor for the C-SPAN networks, and participating students from George Mason University, Purdue University, the University of Denver and Georgetown University for a live video conference.
Rather, who was a former news anchor for CBS Evening News, touched on many issues dealing with his experiences with journalism and journalism today. Rather now also hosts his own show titled Dan Rather Reports and can be viewed on HDNet.
Rather explained how there are three important components to being a good journalist:
- Curiosity
- Relentless determination
- Ability to write well and quickly
“Curiosity is the bedrock of being a good reporter,” Rather said.
When discussing his experiences with covering the Kennedy assassination, he said, “As a professional you must seal out your emotions and focus on the job at hand.”
He explained how it’s our job as journalists to get the facts right and to be true to your story and your audience.
Which leads into the topic of social media. Rather explained how he’s seen the leader in how consumers get their journalism go from radio, to TV, and now the overwhelmingly dominant Internet.
“Obama is our first Internet president,” said Rather. “However, the strength of TV is that is puts you there. You can see the reality and make your own judgement.”
Copyright: inquisitr.com
Tucker Carlson, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Caller, joined Rather in dicussing the emergence of online journalism and social media and what needs to be done.
Carlson explained how, “The problem with online media is that it’s young and there’s not a lot of money there.” It’s still emerging into our society and it’s a good and bad thing all at the same time.
Rather explained how, “Consumers need to be educated in order to improve online journalism.” Consumers needs to be able to sift through what’s fact and what’s fiction.
A very powerful statement that Rather said was “News is something important that someone in power doesn’t want the public to know.”
Encouraging students to be aware of the checks and balances system that the American journalism has stemmed from, and tying that in with a “sense of independence.”
The video for this particular video conference can be found here.
The distance learning course, which is produced by C-SPAN, is a unique opportunity for students to interview guests via video conference. the course airs on C-SPAN3 on Fridays at 5 p.m. and also streams online here.
