Crowds of students filled the Cronkite forum to listen to Anderson Cooper, the recipient of this year’s Walter Cronkite Award, discuss his experiences in journalism Wednesday afternoon.
Cooper, a prominent anchor, reporter and war correspondent, received the annual Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism at the Walter Cronkite Luncheon earlier that afternoon.
The award, named after the late Walter Cronkite, honors distinguished journalists who model the ethics and values taught at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Cooper is the 35th recipient of this prestigious award.
The sellout luncheon consisted of more than 1,200 journalists, businessmen and Cronkite students at the Grand Sheraton in downtown Phoenix.
Shortly after the luncheon, Cooper appeared at the Cronkite School for a discussion with those not able to attend the luncheon.
During his acceptance speech and during the discussion, Cooper said that at first, he declined to personally accept the award because he felt like he did not deserve it.
“I still feel like there’s a lot I need to learn and can learn and a lot I can get better at,” Cooper said during his acceptance speech at the luncheon. “More often than not, I see moments that I missed or questions that I didn’t think to ask at the moment.”
Cooper said that as a war correspondent, so much could not be captured and his reporting on tragedies never felt complete.
“That camera lens is just a little piece of glass. You can’t cram the sound of the … silence … or the death rattles of someone taking their last breaths,” Cooper said. “To try to get all that and come up with some words that don’t interfere with the pictures … it’s not something you are ever fully satisfied with.”
Following his graduation from Yale University in 1989, Cooper struggled to find a job he wanted in traditional newsrooms, so he decided to create his own opportunities.
He made a list of everything he wanted out of his life and being a war correspondent fulfilled that list.
After quitting his job at Channel One News, Cooper acquired a fake press pass and went to Africa during the Somali Civil War. It was his first time in a war zone, and he had never seen death until his coverage of the famine and war in Somalia.
“It never occurred to me not to go,” Cooper said. “I knew I couldn’t save people’s lives, but I could bear witness to their struggles. They weren’t dying in silence.”
Cooper said he witnessed many hardships that would likely stay with him for the rest of his life, but he felt as though reporting as a war correspondent was a privilege that gave him “life-changing experiences.”
“You’re able to shine a light onto a darkness. You’re able to focus attention onto a story that needs to be told and that’s an extraordinary feeling,” Cooper said.
Sophomore Daria Jenkins was among the students who asked Cooper a question. She asked how he could stay grounded and focus on his craft despite being a well-known journalist.
Cooper told the audience of eager young journalists that nothing good ever comes from thinking too highly of oneself and that he could never think of himself as a “public person.”
For Cooper, his job was never about fame, but about publicizing facts and allowing his audience to make informed decisions for themselves.
“I’m grateful to go to a school that gives me opportunities like this to get advice from professionals who are working for our desired fields,” Jenkins said.
Many students discussed Cooper’s speech after it ended, and several were inspired by his passion, including Cronkite student Amber Godbehere.
“His passion and tenacity is inspiring for so many of us,” Godbehere said. “I really enjoyed being there to learn about what it takes to be a correspondent.”
Even though he initially felt as though he did not deserve to receive the award, Cooper said he was grateful for the honor and recognition for the work he is most passionate about.
Contact the reporter at jbornsch@asu.edu.
