CMI 2020 Annual Report

Speaker Series
‘Fake news’ claim follows
Acosta to Playhouse
By Luke Mongelli
Speaker Series
Once Conte and Acosta opened the
discussion to questions from the
audience, here’s what was asked:
Q: What is the best advice you have for
aspiring journalists in college?
A: Keep at it. We need reinforcements. This is the
best time to go into the business, but it is very
competitive. Do not be deterred, and do not be
afraid to screw up.
Q: How is the media aiding in the
promotion of bias?
A: Fox News is running a propaganda operation.
But we (CNN) try to hold their feet to the fire no
matter who is in power.
Photo by Jason Cohn
Q: What is one of the most
noticeable changes between the Trump
and Obama
Administrations for you?
Jim Acosta, the Chief White House
Correspondent for CNN, spoke at the
Pittsburgh Playhouse on Feb. 6 for another
installment in the Media Innovations
Speaker Series.
Acosta was welcomed with open arms by
some, but others in the audience shouted
out with cries of “fake news,” and
“Infowars,” among other claims of hateful
intent, which Acosta quickly diffused.
“You mean the same Infowars that claims
that the Sandy Hook shooting didn’t
happen?” Acosta responded.
Acosta sat down in the sold-out PNC
Theater with Point Park students and
community members alike to answer
questions, address the events taking place
in Washington D.C. and analyze some key
points in the most recent years of his career
with the popular news network.
Acosta was the third of four speakers to
participate in the Speaker Series. Andy
Conte, the director of the Center for Media
Innovation, organizes each of the speaker
series events and moderates the speeches.
“It was really great, there was a lot of
positive energy in the room,” Conte said
about his overall feeling of the event. “The
message was on point with what we were
trying to convey, and it had that star quality
with it. It was by far the most successful
series, and is going in the direction that we
want the speaker series to head.”
The packed audience included several
students of the university who were thrilled
with Acosta’s speech.
“I thought Jim Acosta was a very good
speaker, he was very personable while
still being professional,” freshman cinema
production major Sara Waldman said. “He
covered many different topics surrounding
his career…and spoke about his time with
both the Trump and Obama Administration.”
Acosta previously covered the Obama
administration, and is currently
overseeing the Trump administration on
behalf of CNN.
“Working during the Presidency of Donald
Trump is a challenge unlike any other I’ve
experienced in my career,” Acosta said during
his speech. “Trump is shattering the norms of
Washington.”
Acosta stated that President Trump has often
referred to the press as “the enemy of the
people,” and in turn, Trump has painted political
journalism as a prejudice-heavy industry.
“I don’t bring bias to my job,” Acosta said.
“This misleads people to think we are out to
report fake news. Trump has not only
dehumanized the press, he has de-Americanized
them.”
Throughout the speech, Conte played videos
of some key moments of Acosta’s most recent
coverage during the last two presidential
administrations he covered. Acosta discussed
a video he recorded on his cell phone of
supporters of President Trump, giving him the
middle finger and yelling profanities at him.
“If they call us the enemy of the people, I want
to give them a chance to correct it. So I want
it documented,” Acosta said. Then, in true
Pittsburgh fashion, Acosta said, “we could use
a little more Mr. Rogers in this world.”
This article was originally published in The
Globe.
A: I actually need bodyguards now, which is
something I never imagined I would have.
Q: How is the media changed by Trump
being the President?
“We are all
A: This will change over time. But the way the
media is portrayed today is a phenomenon associated
with this President
Americans. We all
Q: How do you put up with a
President who has put a target on your
back?
A: It is not easy. You just have to get tough. One
time we actually got a pipe bomb sent to the CNN
headquarters in D.C, and it was scary. People
have threatened me, and my family, and it is
some of the scariest stuff I have ever had to deal
with. You just have to get tough.
Photo by John Altdorfer
need to capture
that again in order
to go forward.”
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