TV News icon addresses Master Class

 

Iconic newsman Dan Rather held a Masters class at Rowan April 11 that could have been ripped from the headlines but still, at times, returned to the basic tenets of Journalism 101.

On campus to moderate the historic Hollybush Symposium on Nuclear Nonproliferation, Rather in person was humble and self-effacing as he addressed about 40 undergraduate public relations and journalism students.

And, just as the former CBS Evening News anchorman seems on TV, Rather was good natured but serious - especially about the business of news.

"I'm really not a master of anything," he started, taller than he appears behind a newsdesk but genial and forthright. "I come to you as an experienced reporter."

While he didn't discuss the 1967 Hollybush Summit, which he covered early in his career, Rather relayed other experiences such as his interactions with President Lyndon B. Johnson and his staff.

In particular, Rather told the story of how Johnson's spokesman, George Christian, found himself in the unenviable position of having to tell the president the truth - even when he didn't want to hear it.

"If you're a journalist your word is your bond and if you're a P.R. person it's equally important," Rather told the class.

Mostly, he instructed, success in either field demands the ability to write and think well.

"I believe writers are made, not born," he said. "If you don't write regularly, start today. Keep a journal and everyday write something in it."

Senior public relations major Neil Glennon, 22, of Bridgewater, was impressed by Rather's presence as much as he was by what the celebrity journalist had to say.

"He just has an air about him when he walked into the room," Glennon said. "To hear him speak was monumental."