Image by Brian Johnson and Dane Kantner, courtesy of Creative Commons
Alexi C. Cardona/Staff Writer
CNN’s chief political correspondent said her first boss told her that the public would never accept a woman’s voice as an authority.
Since then, Candy Crowley has become an international reporter, covered all but one of the national political conventions since the presidential nomination of Jimmy Carter, anchored her own show and, in 2012, became the first woman to moderate a presidential debate in twenty years.
Not listening to the discouraging advice and deciding to pursue her goals landed Crowley where she is today.
“The worst thing you can do is not follow where you really want to go,” Crowley said. She also said to be so good at what you do that you cannot be ignored.
Crowley began her journalism career as a newsroom assistant for WASH-FM, a radio station in Washington, D.C. She was a general assignment and White House correspondent for the Associated Press and then a general assignment correspondent for NBC’s Washington bureau. As chief political correspondent for CNN, she anchors State of the Union with Candy Crowley and covers stories on presidential, congressional and gubernatorial elections.
At the Student Government Association’s lecture on March 26, Crowley spoke to an audience of about 100 people, most of which were older members of the public who admired her show and work. Few students attended the event.
Crowley talked about journalists’ responsibilities and the dangers of the Internet.
She advised students to be sure that journalism is what they want to do, since it is a “passion career,” and it requires a lot from journalists and their families.
In today’s rapidly evolving media landscape, Crowley said it is a journalist’s job to find new ways to engage audiences and make them care about important issues.
There is no substitute for talking to people, listening to their stories and making an effort to understand people and their experiences, she said.
Crowley is concerned that the Internet gives people a sense of faux-intimacy and the idea that we can know people based solely on what they post on the Web.
The Internet also gives people the ability to customize their news and filter information to which they do not want to be exposed.
“You don’t want your inner voice challenged,” she said. “You don’t go any place where the news upsets you, where someone disagrees with you. We go where we can listen to ourselves think.” This cherry-picking of information is another concern.
Crowley made it clear that she is not anti-Internet, but that it is a tool that is mastering us when we need to be mastering it.
“Use the internet,” she told the audience, “but don’t mistake it for life. It’s virtual for a reason.”
-bbc@fiusm.com
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