By Christina Smith

The University was offered a 360-degree look at journalism, politics and world events on Thursday, March 19, when CNN news correspondent Anderson Cooper spoke to a packed John C. Adams Playhouse.

The lecture, titled “A 360-Degree Look At World Events,” was preceeded by a short introduction from Professor Robert Papper, who is chair of the Department of Journalism, Media Studies and Public Relations. Papper joined Cooper on stage for the remainder of the speech.

Cooper began by outlining his life and how he came to be a reporter. Initially, he did not plan to become a news personality, because people who grow up saying that they want to be reporters are like people who grow up saying that they want to be politicians.

“You should be a real person before you become a fake one,” Cooper said.

Cooper also described his break into the corresponding world following his college graduation and noted that he had no formal journalism education. With nothing but a desire to become a foreign war correspondent and a home video camera, Cooper had a fake press pass made and traveled to African war zones.

“I may have graduated from Yale,” he said, “but I got my real education in Africa.”

Cooper continued to describe what he learned in the various African cities he experienced and concluding that he grew to love reporting because “there is a true value in baring witness” to what other countries are going through.

Cooper shifted his lecture to cover more domestic issues, and noted his experience with politicians, presidential debates, hurricane Katrina victims and even, humorously, sweat glands and Twitter. He joked about his lack of vacations, talked about how he came to host “AC360°,” and ultimately provided the audience with an insight into the U.S. and the world that they might not have had previously.

“The line that separates us [all] is thread thin,” Cooper said. “It’s thinner than the walls of the human heart.”

There was also a question-and-answer session following the lecture where attendees asked Cooper his opinions, which he avoided giving his journalistic advice and his overall perception of the media today. University President Stuart Rabinowitz was overheard saying how intelligent both the students and their questions were.

When asked about his role in the journalism world and the legacy he hopes to leave behind, Cooper was, for the first time all night, at a loss for words.

“I don’t think of myself as in the world of journalism,” Cooper said, after admitting he was speechless. “I’m disappointed in what I do 99.9 percent of the time. I just want to keep on growing and do the best that I can.”

(David Gordon)

(David Gordon)