Curry Talks Responsibility to J-School Students

Today show anchor Ann Curry shared her insight and, at a student’s request, gave “inspiration after a long, hard semester” at the Journalism School Tuesday night.

Curry has been with the Today show since 1997 and with Dateline NBC, which she co-anchors, since 2005. During her tenure at NBC, she reported groundbreaking stories from Darfur and Serbia. Curry was granted the first interview in three years with the President of Sudan, Omar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir, in which she discussed the suspected genocide government-aided genocide.

Despite her success, Curry preached modesty. “The first rule of journalism, that most people don’t get, is that it’s not about you,” she said. “It’s not about being distinguished. It’s about taking care of the people who watch and read your stuff.”

She went on to say that journalism gives a voice to the voiceless. “Journalism is only as good as the willingness of the people within it to fight, to rebel for what needs to be said and for what needs to be reported,” Curry added.

Her philanthropic and journalistic work led President Bush to impose tougher economic sanctions against Sudan and made the treatment of Serbia’s mentally disabled a top national priority.

Discussing the dangers inherent in journalism, Curry advised the audience of budding reporters to “get in, get what you need and get out. There is a great responsibility you have to your team as a journalist.” She shared an anecdote about how she once jeopardized her crew by trying to rescue an elderly woman she interviewed in Beirut after the bombing of a Hezbollah stronghold where they were filming.

Curry also touched upon the commercialization she has to deal with in working for a television show while being a “news chick.” For example, when she filled in as a Today show host, she said, she had to interview Miss South Carolina. “Did I want to? No. But I want to reach as many people as possible, so if I have to do a cooking segment or something ... I’m not good with that, but I’ve accepted it,” explained Curry.

“Remember what journalism is. It is a service profession. Work for the people who serve you, not those who pay your check,” Curry said.

Curry told the students not to let anything get in their way. As the first person in her family to graduate from college, she broke ground as a multiracial woman appearing on television. After all, she said, “the Bush administration is talking about global warming, anything is possible.”

Ali Krimmer can be reached at news@columbiaspectator.com.