When Anderson Cooper came to speak at George Washington University, he had to adjust the timing of the event. Due to a change in scheduling, the event previously scheduled for the morning was shifted to the evening. What was the early morning emergency that caused Mr. Cooper to change his plans? An interview with Melania Trump.

When interviewer Frank Sesno, the Dean of GW’s School of Media and Public Affairs and former CNN correspondent, asked about Cooper’s time with Mrs. Trump, Cooper told the audience that she was “cautious” and “lovely,” but that the interview would certainly not be a news-making revelation. At the event, Sesno’s questions for Cooper discussed the media’s role in the presidential election, asked him to reflect on some video clips, and later turned to his personal life.

Image courtesy of Sean Simon for Law Street Media

As for CNN’s coverage of the presidential elections, Cooper defended the media’s role in the primaries several times during the event, saying that Trump is hyper-aware of the media and that he is the only candidate willing to be interviewed so often. When criticized for giving Trump excessive airtime on CNN, Cooper argued that a presidential run as unorthodox as Trump’s is worthy of attention—that it points to a very real wave of anger and distrust in the American public.

Pushed further on the issue of the media’s role in elections, he argued that much of the onus is on the viewers. Today we have unprecedented access to information through the internet, and each person has the ability to become educated on a topic in a matter of minutes. He could make an hour long documentary on healthcare in America, but it’s not worth the time and effort if no one watches.

Then came time to review some video from Cooper’s career at CNN. Sesno showed some clips to Cooper and the audience, asking for more background on Cooper’s decisions as an anchor and interviewer. One clip was an interview with Senator Mary Landrieu in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, in which he hears platitudes from the senator. Cooper expresses the anguish of the people of New Orleans, forcing her to face the horror of the natural disaster. After watching the clip Cooper elaborated on his thought process, adding that he had seen a family left dead in their flooded home just the day before his interview, an image that haunted him as he spoke with the Senator.

When asking about his interactions with the presidential candidates, Sesno presented a clip that showed one of Hillary Clinton’s shortcomings—a sort of tone-deafness. The video, taken from the February 3 Democratic Town Hall, shows Hillary not-so-deftly addressing her high-priced speeches to Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street firms. Sesno highlighted Cooper’s decision to demand a real answer for the large fees, rather than being content with a stock response.

At the end of the event, Cooper began talking about his personal life, giving the audience a look at a side of him rarely revealed on CNN. Cooper’s older brother committed suicide at the age of 23, and his father died when he was 10 years old. He told the audience that he felt so much grief and pain that he needed to find a surrounding that reflected that feeling in order to make sense of it. That was why, after graduating from Yale, Cooper took a camera and some friends to travel to the most war-torn parts of the world. He remembers sleeping on a roof in Somalia, exploring with very little money while trying to find connection in distant and foreign cultures.

The event Cooper spoke at was sponsored by Allied in Pride, a student organization at George Washington University dedicated to LGBTQ issues, and so Cooper also opened up about his identity as well. Although he was not publicly “out” for many years, he told the audience that he has always been openly gay in his professional life, and in no uncertain terms that being gay is one of the greatest blessings of his life.

Being the great-great-great-grandson of railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, Cooper has had a cushy and privileged upbringing. Without also being gay, Cooper thinks he may not have been aware of his privilege, and the discrimination that others go through daily. His sexual orientation gave him more perspective on life, leading him to be more of an observer than an active participant. “Being gay has taught me empathy, and empathy has made me a better reporter,” he said.

Cooper ended his talk by answering questions from the audience. He took the opportunity to sum up his own reporting modus operandi. He wants to confront his interviewee with the facts, rather than his opinion. He’s not interested in voicing how he feels, but rather to get an understanding of how the other person operates, and to understand the essence of their positions.

Cooper warned that fame can be “gangrenous” and told the audience that if you become obsessed with your own image, you lose integrity as a journalist. At an event was co-hosted by GW’s School of Media and Public Affairs, that warning should be well-heeded by aspiring journalists.

Sean Simon

Sean Simon is an Editorial News Senior Fellow at Law Street, and a senior at The George Washington University, studying Communications and Psychology. In his spare time, he loves exploring D.C. restaurants, solving crossword puzzles, and watching sad foreign films. Contact Sean at SSimon@LawStreetMedia.com.

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For the last few days a video has been making its way through certain circles of the internet. One of our bloggers, the awesome Allison Dawson, even wrote a piece about it entitled, “9/11 Never Forget? Not Exactly for These GW Students.” The video is a handful of students from The George Washington University here in D.C. answering a few questions on current events. The interviewer is Ashley Pratte, a spokeswoman for Young America’s Foundation. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s right here:

Now before I continue, full disclosure here. I’m a recent GW alum. I still have some school spirit. I had a great time at GW, made some of my best friends there, and will always be thankful for the opportunities I was offered. That being said, there are plenty of things that I will always slam GW for — looking at you former GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg for making offensive comments about rape into a particularly lurid art form. When it comes to this video though, I’m going to stand with my alma mater.

The tactics that YAF used were cheap, gotcha journalism. It seems like they came in with a hypothesis — students at a mostly liberal university that’s often named one of the most politically active schools in the country are a shining example of how today’s young people are ignorant about world events. I mean come on, the video started with the interviewer standing in front of kegs being unloaded. I’m sure that was just the most convenient place to stand, and not at all an entirely unsubtle reference to the fact that occasionally college kids drink rather than watch CNN.

And then let’s think about the questions they asked: 9/11, ISIS, and the celebrity nude photo leak. The phrasing of the 9/11 question was vague at best: “Next week marks the anniversary of a major national event. Do you know what that is?” I was an international affairs major, so I’m just going to need you guys to believe me when I say I know a fair bit about 9/11. But to be honest, I don’t know I would have gotten that question right. I am a self-sufficient adult, yet I came really damn close to not realizing my birthday was coming up a few weeks ago. That’s not a fair question — ask me what major national event is coming up next week and I’m pretty sure my response is going to be “remind me what dates are next week?” A fairer question would have included at least an attempt at context, for example, “What major national event falls in the second week of September?” or an actually substantive question, such as “What happened on September 11, 2001?” or “Who committed the acts of terror against the U.S.?” Should more students have gotten the question right as it was? Probably. But is it fair to conclude from a vaguely worded question that those students don’t know what 9/11 is, or remember it? Hardly.

And let’s talk about the sample size used in this “study.” Thirty students who were put completely on the spot while cameras were rolling…out of a population of roughly 24,000, including grad students… who were randomly found on campus. Congrats, that’s a statistically negligible sample size of .00125 percent! Listen, if YAF had gone ahead and conducted a legitimate survey of a real sample size and gotten the same results, I’d be embarrassed on behalf of my alma mater. But this is just silly. Grabbing students on their way home from class or work, asking them poorly contextualized questions, and then watching your hypothesis come true is hardly good journalism.

What this was was a poorly laid trap.

Out of curiosity, I actually tracked down one of the students in the video. Noah Katz, a freshman in GW’s Elliott School of International Affairs, told me that while Pratte was very polite, he though the question about 9/11 was weirdly phrased. Katz told me, “they asked what landmark United States event is having its anniversary in the next coming weeks. I immediately thought about things like Roe v Wade or Brown v Board of Education.” 

Finally, let’s stop and think for a minute here. Even if some students don’t know the names of the journalists beheaded by ISIS, but do know that Jennifer Lawrence had her nude photos leaked, does that really tell us anything about them as people? You could play this game with anything. If you tracked me down on the street and asked me about music or physics, my answers would probably be pretty embarrassing. One of the greatest things about my college experience was that i was exposed to people from different backgrounds, different political affiliations, and with different interests, hobbies, and priorities than myself. That’s how real life is, that’s how America is, and that’s OK.

Yes, we should all strive our best to be informed, but a three-minute video on the street with 30 students and blatantly biased techniques doesn’t do much to convince me that we’re doing a bad job of that. Instead of tearing each other down for some gaps in knowledge, let’s celebrate the fact that we live in a country where we have the freedom to have those kinds of differences.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Response: Stupid GW Students or Gotcha Journalism? appeared first on Law Street.

Hey y’all!

Thirteen years ago yesterday our country was shaken to the core. I was sixteen, skipping school and watching some awful show on television when the program was interrupted by the news reporting on the first airplane hitting the Twin Towers in New York City. Not even 20 minutes later, as the news anchors were still reporting on the crash, we all watched as another plane crashed into the second tower. It was live TV and there was no controlling what the viewers were going to see. The confusion and horror coming from the news anchors was something I could never forget. My brother and I sat in silence not knowing what to do, what to think, or what was going to happen next. Parents pulled their kids out of school and I remember this feeling of urgency in the air and the uneasiness of what could possibly happen next. Thousands of people had just lost their lives and the country witnessed it. There were no answers, only questions of why and what will happen next.

Every year we remember that horrendous day. It was a constant fear for the first year or two, but also a great feeling that our country had come together and we had heroes to thank daily. Budweiser aired a commercial during Superbowl XXXVI that really demonstrated the somber tone and respect the entire country had for the events of September 11, 2001. The ad was only shown once to ensure they did not profit from it in any way. Even today, 13 years later, it is the most moving dedication done in such a small amount of time.

Yesterday was a somber day for us all. Most news outlets covered the anniversary in addition to current events. While watching one of the programs I had to do a quick rewind to make sure I was hearing it correctly. Young America’s Foundation had gone to the George Washington University campus in Washington, DC last Friday, September 5, to interview students about the anniversary of September 11. YAF only had a few questions to ask these students:

1. Next week marks the anniversary of a major national event. Do you know what that is?
2. Do you know what ISIS is?
3. Did you know that ISIS is responsible for the beheading of two American journalists? If so, could you name one?
4. Are you aware of the celebrity “nude photo” hacking scandal? If so, could you name any of the celebrities involved?

The responses from these kids are just mind blowing…

So the total results:

• Six out of 30 students recognized that this week is the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
• Four out of 30 students were able to name one of the American journalists beheaded at the hands of ISIS.
• 29 out of 30 students were able to identify one or more celebrities involved in the nude photo hacking scandal.

The kid interviewed two minutes in genuinely reacts like he had no idea what had been going on and it clearly upset him, which is great but frustrating. Actually this whole situation is frustrating. How is it that college students in their late teens and early twenties know more about pop culture and the ridiculousness of a nude picture hacking scandal than they do about current events and the death of two Americans at the hands of terrorists? This is not only the responsibility of these young adults to know what’s going on but it is the responsibility of teachers, parents, and our society as a whole.

There are already so many issues with what kids are learning in the classroom today that this should not surprise me, but it honestly does. How is this possible? When I was growing up my parents and grandparents talked to me about Pearl Harbor and the significance of that date. We may have brushed through it in history class but it is a day that I remember because it was an important part of history. My grandparents even lost friends and family members during the attack on Pearl Harbor and World War II. The same could be said about 9/11 and the Iraq War that followed. Hell, there are even movies about the two events. While there have been about seven movies made about the Pearl Harbor attacks, nearly 20 have been produced about 9/11.

What has become of our younger generation? Things need to change or our society will become Idiocracy.

This video is a great representation of what is going on in our culture and it needs to stop. We need our children to be better and smarter and more informed. We are not only disappointing our parents and grandparents, but we are disappointing our country, our culture, the world, and our Founding Fathers! Flabbergasted.

I don’t want to end this post on a note of frustration for our society. Instead I want to share a moving video about the last surviving search and rescue dog who returned to Ground Zero yesterday, a place she had not been to since 2001.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Never Forget.

Allison Dawson

Allison Dawson was born in Germany and raised in Mississippi and Texas. A graduate of Texas Tech University and Arizona State University, she’s currently dedicating her life to studying for the LSAT. Twitter junkie. Conservative. Get in touch with Allison at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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