Acclaimed journalist Dan Rather, who rose to prominence for his coverage of the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the Watergate scandal, spoke at Boston University Tuesday evening.
Rather spoke at Metcalf Ballroom in the George Sherman Union on the significance of journalism in the era of the Donald Trump presidency and the importance of an independent press to a free democracy.
Calling upon his six-decade career in journalism, Rather highlighted the significance of journalists during a time of polarized politics.
“A truly independent, fiercely independent free press,” Rather said, “is the red beating heart of freedom and democracy.”
Specifically, Rather said the decline of local newspapers is a great loss in the system of checks and balances.
Given that many small newspapers struggle financially, Rather said with their vanishing comes the potential for corruption. Without the presence of local journalists in state legislature, zoning and city council meetings, Rather said there is a greater likelihood that those sectors could fall to corrupt or illicit activity.
Rather said especially with a contentious political divide and a presidential administration that exploits fear to further polarize Americans, a journalist’s role of exposing the truth is more important than ever.
“Every day, try to get to the truth or as close to the truth as humanly possible,” Rather said.
To aspiring journalists, Rather said there is no perfection in the field and there is the inevitable potential for mistakes. However, Rather said it is important to be steadfast in the pursuit of truth and to maintain passion for reporting.
“With journalism, there’s not an exact science,” Rather said. “Its very best practices are kind of crude art and nobody can do it perfectly.”
Sofie Isenberg, a graduate student in the College of Communication, and Nicholas McCool, a senior in COM, asked Rather questions at the event about key points in his career and themes in his 2017 book, “What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism.”
Brock Nelson, a sophomore in the College of Engineering, said he admired Rather’s discussion about the current polarization of opinions within the country.
“His points on the divisions in our country,” Nelson said, “and the way we can go about connecting really resonated with me.”
Nora Verdier, a freshman in COM, said she felt encouraged by Rather’s words on the importance of journalism.
“I think what particularly resonated with me was that he talked about how now is a really good time to go into journalism,” Verdier said. “When I tell any of my relatives that I’m going into journalism they all ask why and tell me that it’s not the time to be doing that. It was really great to hear him say that it actually is a really good time for journalists.”
Sydney Clark, a junior in COM, said she was excited to hear Rather’s perspectives and his views in the current political climate.
“I’m not a journalism major or anything but he’s just a super important guy to listen to,” Clark said. “I think his kind of voice in our political atmosphere is really important for young people to listen to. I felt like I could only benefit from coming tonight.”
It’s almost ironic when a liar demands that other liars be called out for lying … Dan Rather (who spoke at my BU graduation in 1983) is the poster child for FAKE NEWS … he’s a disgruntled partisan, still butt-hurt from being fired for spreading fake news about President Bush – that he’s still not accepted as being fake. The guy is a joke.
It’s well past time for Dan to retire!