GHS students hear Lehrer lecture
Brittany Allen
Be optimistic: That was Jim Lehrer’s advice to budding journalists. GHS students, JoAnne Grogan and Brittany Allen attended a special queston - answer session with Lehrer.
A self-proclaimed non-pundit journalist, Jim Lehrer, once half of PBS television’s acclaimed MacNeil-Lehrer Report, commanded attention at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland on Feb. 3. Sixteen students from Goldendale High School attended the lecture.
Lehrer’s talk kicked off the World Affairs Council of Oregon’s 2012 International Speaker Series with a question-and-answer style lecture on politics and their role in his life and the lives of the American people. From his personal aspirations of baseball stardom in his youth to, his newest book covering his experiences with presidential debates, to providing instruction on the world of journalism, Lehrer caught himself digressing constantly and humorously interrupted his tangents with “I’ll explain in a minute why this is relevant.”
The GHS students attending the lecture first made a few detours to the Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum in Hood River and such media businesses as the Hood River News to witness the presses in action, and the Channel 6 News television station to watch the news being filmed. While the majority visited the latter establishment, GHS seniors JoAnne Grogan and Brittany Allen participated in a special press conference with Jim Lehrer at the Heathman Hotel. The conference was open to only two select students from each high school present and a few local colleges.
During this discussion, Lehrer answered questions and gave advice on furthering careers in journalism, specifically saying, “You have to be an optimist to be a journalist. Pessimism does not go with journalism… Journalism is about hearing the sirens and going to find out what happened.”