 "Photo: Joslyn Brown")
Ed Gordon, award-winning journalist and news anchor, spoke Tuesday night at the K-State Student Union Ballroom in an event sponsored by the Black Student Union and Diverse Mass Communicators.
The event was part of Black History Month.
“We were trying to find someone who could impact the KSU community by speaking during Black History Month,” said Cassandra Smith, freshman in finance and BSU member.
Gordon discussed the issues of race and opportunity in media, relating not only to the recent election of President Barack Obama but also to students who are facing difficulties in tough economic times.
Regarding the election, Gordon said the reason Obama won was because he was not afraid to seize his opportunity. Gordon emphasized the importance of pursuing one’s moment saying, “Had Barack Obama not taken his moment a convention ago, we would not have found him so interesting, and we would not have President Obama.”
Gordon went on to exhort students to ask themselves if they are doing everything they can to be ready to enter the world after college.
“Part of Barack Obama’s success was that he was as prepared as he could be for his moment,” he said. “You have to be prepared for your moment. The reality is you never know when your moment is coming.”
Gordon also touched on the issue of race when he said “the issue of race in this country is something we are never comfortable talking about in mixed company. These types of issues are where Barack has opened the door.”
Later, Gordon addressed some of the situations he has been in when people made assumptions about him because of his race. Specifically, during the O.J. Simpson trials, Gordon said there was always a question of if a black reporter like himself could talk to O.J. Simpson, or if they would be fair.
“Yet,” he said, “this question was never asked of a white reporter covering a story about a white person.”
In another situation, Gordon was asked to cover the black perspective on the Democratic Convention, which took place in Chicago. Gordon agreed to the assignment, but said he was dismayed when he was told to go to the projects for the story, as if that was the only place African-Americans could be found in Chicago.
Carmen Ellis, senior in elementary education and BSU president, said these types of experiences “challenge African-Americans to work harder, so that they are not asked to cover stories just because they’re black.”
She also said she agreed with Gordon’s emphasis on opportunity, saying his words reminded her of how important it is to “[take] opportunity and run with it.”
Issues of economics also affect student’s opportunities, Gordon said. In a tight economy, he said he sees many jobs disappearing.
“The reality is because those jobs are going away, it’s tighter and tighter to get a job,” he said. “When you walk in and present your résumé, it has to be a better resume than it was five years ago, better than it was 10 years ago, because the competition is stiffer.”
Not only is the economy as a whole becoming more competitive, but Gordon said the world of journalism is changing as well.
More and more content is moving from television and print sources to the internet, and Gordon said he believes the trend is unlikely to change.
Nick Levendofsky, junior in agricultural communications, said he finds this trend unfortunate, and he sees the media as “catering to our interests — our society is so fast-paced that we need sound bytes.”
Levendofsky said he is also concerned about an increase in reporters who have very little journalistic training, citing Joe the Plumber and D.L. Hughley as examples of people who have begun reporting with little or no training.
Gordon, however, said he believes though lack of training in ethical journalism is a concern, the move to Web-based journalism might increase diversity in the type of stories and perspectives that receive attention.
To aspiring journalists, he said to “ride the wave, whatever it becomes.
“I’ve seen tremendous change in the last fifteen years,” he said. “Writing and true journalism will exist, but it will exist in a different medium.”
Though he warned students about the need to be realistic during the economic crisis, Gordon ended on an optimistic note, telling students to always be ready for their next opportunity.
“There’s a huge world of opportunity out there for you,” he said. “There are new opportunities and a new world that you have a chance to be part of, but you have to be ready for it.”
Former Collegian Reporter