Correspondent
Correspondent Talks with Communication Students
Veteran TV news correspondent Garrick Utley met with communication students on his campus visit to give the keynote address for the 2004 Academic Convocation.
At his own request, Utley spoke for more than an hour with students preparing for careers in broadcasting, journalism and public relations. He talked about this 40 years as a foreign correspondent, comparing the war in Iraq with his own experiences as a reporter covering the Vietnam War. Responding to student questions, he also talked about the influence of advertising in newsrooms.
Utley explained the main distinction between journalism and broadcasting. He defined journalism as the reporting in either print or broadcast form of past events, allowing reporters time to verify information and present it in context. On the other hand, he said, broadcasting is the unfolding development of current events whose outcome and often whose context is unknown to the broadcaster. He lamented that the reporter's traditional role of verifying sources is slipping away in today's high-paced and competitive world of broadcasting.
Formerly with NBC, ABC and CNN, Utley also talked with faculty about the education of students for communication careers.
(Fall 2004)