Commencement Speeches

While vastly different in their stylistic approaches, Rick Reilly and Nate Silver did agree on some main points in their commencement addresses. Riley and Silver both emphasized that the core of Journalism is to seek the truth, and present it in a "clear and accurate way" (Reilly) .

They both agreed that the new digital era of journalism is an exciting time to be in the industry. I particularly agree with Reilly's point that no matter the medium--internet, Facebook, Twitter, or traditional newspapers--someone is going to need to research and report the news. No matter how media changes in the future the Journalism profession will always be essential.

Both Reilly and Silver also agree that as writers and journalists, we should not be willing to work for less than we deserve. Silver gave the advice that we should all figure out what our time is worth and learn how to say "no" and that we should never settle for a job that we are unhappy in or that is not fulfilling. I think this advice is relevant in any field.

Reilly focuses more of his speech on the necessity of the journalism school and journalism education, which is something that Silver does not talk about. Reilly makes the point that while journalists are sometimes bloggers all bloggers are not journalists and that journalism education is necessary to teach reporters essential skills--such as interviewing. Reilly focuses some of his attention on this topic to address the current state of the Journalism School at CU.

Silver, based on his experience and his specialties, focuses on the importance of mathematics and statistics. He emphasizes that using the numbers and stats are ways to draw cause and effect conclusions and find story ideas.

The advice that I can start using today comes a little from both of the speeches. Silver specifically says that journalists need to be aware and read everything. Whereas Reilly says that you should "say sentences that you have never heard or read before," which also ties into the idea that reading is an important part of journalism. I have always been a firm believer that the more you read the better you write, but I also like the idea that you should read to gain information and insight on how to say something new, different, and profound.