Trump, teams and traffic
Honored CNN anchor says truth is essential for democracy
A Cardinals game in Glendale, a Sun Devils game in Tempe and a visit by President Trump are likely to affect highways for Valley motorists tonight.
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper was presented the 2018 Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism on Wednesday from Arizona State University, telling an assembled luncheon that the best way to handle attacks against the media is “more reporting.”
The annual award, presented every year since 1984, is given by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Cronkite Endowment Board of Trustees at ASU.
“It’s really an incredible honor to be here and it’s quite intimidating to know the incredible roster of journalists that have been here before me,” Cooper said, addressing more than 1,200 people at the Sheraton Grand Phoenix hotel in downtown Phoenix. The audience included many media professional and student journalists, faculty and representatives from a variety of Valley businesses.
Cooper’s speech underscored the role of journalism in a political climate that has questioned the media’s integrity.
“Truth ... is under assault, facts are called fake, lies are used to divide us to weaken confidence in journalism and the core institutions that are essential to maintaining our democracy,” Cooper said.
“The answer in my mind to the attacks on reporting is more reporting. I believe it with all my heart. There is truth and there are lies, there are facts and there is fiction and it’s our job to point that out even if at times it seems as if no one is interested.”
A short video that traced Cooper’s 18-year reporting career was shown at the event, showing him reporting from some of the more dangerous regions of the world.
Cooper then took the stage and highlighted one of his memorable encounters with Walter Cronkite, the legendary CBS anchor and namesake of the award and school, who faithfully attended the annual ASU event before his death in 2009.
“It was Walter Cronkite ... who really sparked my interest in the world and my earliest thoughts of one day being a foreign correspondent,” he said.
“I did an interview with him ... in Los Angeles,” he said, adding it was in front of a large crowd when Cronkite’s hearing was significantly impaired.
“I asked him the second question and he looks at me… he says, ‘My ear system isn’t working.’ … it ended up with me screaming at Walter Cronkite,” Cooper said, prompting laughs from the audience.
The Cronkite Award will join Cooper’s cabinet of 13 Emmy awards, a Peabody Award and an Edward R. Murrow Award.