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September 2008
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CAMPUS NEWS |
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Newseum Journalist-in-Residence Nick Clooney Joins SOC In the age of the citizen journalist, blogging in real time, events are reported as they unfold. But the convenience of news blogs, hailed for democratizing the news and allowing everyone to be a journalist, also belies an important, often overlooked detail: “Everybody isn’t a journalist,” notes Professor Nick Clooney, distinguished journalist-in-residence at SOC and the Newseum. “A reporter is required to sort out the truth.” Clooney’s observation is rooted in his 56-year journalism career. This fall, in a course on Opinion Writing, Clooney is attempting to impart some of the key lessons culled over a lifetime of reporting to the next generation of journalists. As a link in the partnership between the School of Communication and the Newseum, Clooney will also host the Sixth Annual SOC Reel Journalism Film Festival at the Newseum’s new home on Pennsylvania Avenue in downtown Washington, D.C. The festival celebrates films that examine the intersection of news and democracy, and raises important questions about the role of journalism in a democratic society. The subject strikes a chord with Clooney, who grew up during “the seminal moments of the 20th century.” Events like the Second World War and the tumult of 1968 in the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. left a deep impression, which Clooney called “central to our lives…to the extent that nothing has since.” Those events left their mark on the field of journalism, too, and the evolving role that reporters and journalists play in a democracy is a topic of endless fascination to Clooney, who got his first taste of reporting at the age of seven. “We used to sit around and watch the radio as assiduously as we later watched five inch screens,” he recalls with a smile, remembering the “magic voices” of the great radio anchors of the 1940s and 1950s, among them, Edward R. Murrow and Bill Shirer. “When they were talking, you knew it was something important, and I wanted to be good enough to be one of them.” In 1968, Clooney embarked on his journalism career, enjoying stints in various media, from radio to television to print. He has also lectured since the 1960s, usually in journalism but also in history or specialized areas like Darfur. Why choose to a lead a class now, after more than 50 years? “It was a new challenge, and as my grandfather used to say, you have to do something at least once or twice a year that makes you sweat. Well, this qualifies.” Clooney emerged from teaching his first class with an optimistic view of the rest of the semester. “I’m going to learn from them at least much as I’m going to teach,” he said. He expects that the election will make its formal debut as a class topic closer to the election itself, and also looks forward to hosting the SOC Reel Journalism Film Festival, which he last attended in 2006 when his son George Clooney’s film, “Good Night and Good Luck,” was featured. Clooney enjoyed the event, and says of the 2009 festival, “Hopefully we’ll be able to do something just that fun.” The coming together of a lifelong journalism career and university life in a city as richly varied as Washington, D.C. creates interesting conditions for Clooney’s arrival. Especially during an election year, when the city’s pulse is palpable, and Clooney says, “your heart beats a little extra – I never get tired of it.” His advice for aspiring journalists: Invest in “context, background…the ethical core of what the profession is,” says Clooney. And even as he implores his students to cultivate a necessary awareness of what’s around them, he remains grounded in an abiding commitment to his craft. As reporters, Clooney says, “It’s our job to tell the story – to follow truth wherever it may lead. And that’s what we need to do.” - Josephine Sanchez | |||
