Ashley Flores

A journalist's role is to provide a voice for others, so says C-N-N correspondent Soledad O'Brien. O'Brien spoke last night at Texas State University. She was invited as part of the L-B-J Distinguished Lecturer series. We learn more in this Bobcat Update from Ashley Flores:

The news media today are often perceived as biased and too opinionated, but Soledad O'Brien told students she believes journalists should use their news stories as a platform for OTHERS to be heard.
SB: "And my job is not to say, well, which side do I want to be on. My job was to say, this is the story of a town in Logan County. And here is what's happened here." (21:16:00-21:26:00)
O'Brien's comments focused on The First Amendment -- this year's Common Experience theme at Texas State.
SB: "As working journalists, it's amazing and it's something that, not only have we fought for, but we have to continually, you know, fight for because people always try to chip away at that right." (14:30:00-14:39:20)
O'Brien's speech at Strahan Coliseum last night was well received.
SB: "I thought she was great, because personally I admire really strong independent women who aren't afraid to go out and do what they have to do to survive in their career." (3:46:00 -3:56:00) (Monica Ramos, Electronic Media Senior)
SB: "I really enjoyed it. I liked how she started out with a few jokes and telling about her background and how she got into journalism, so it was really interesting." (1:00:00-1:25:00) (Blake Barrington, Journalism Senior)
[STAND UP IN STRAHAN] The Common Experience events for this year have only just begun. Texas State University has a line-up of events that can be found online. For Bobcat Update, I'm Ashley Flores.