Schieffer Success

The Schieffer School namesake, Bob Schieffer, who is lovingly referred to as Uncle Bob by journalism students when not present, gave us the Washington welcome today with our visit to CBS News. Though we still began bright and early, and without coffee as our attempt to search for a Starbucks failed after passing up the long line at the one by the Metro, we discussed the exhausting day before at the ever-so-entertaining RNC and DNC.

Then it was off to unite some of the Horned Frog family. Since we took a taxi we arrived early to this location, so naturally I was ecstatic since I am a timely freak and there was time to dash across the street to a French café for coffee. After chatting with Bob for a while and meeting many CBS journalists that popped in to join our conversation and share stories along with Bob, we watched a taping of “Washington Unplugged,” where Bob and the main host of the segment, Jan Crawford, gave us a shout out by explaining the reason behind their purple apparel was because of TCU students in the audience.

After that dazzling experience, we felt extra special when Bob, Jan and two other journalists shared more of their time with us by accompanying us to lunch. Like any uncle would offer advice to family members, Bob was open with us about the field of journalism and how the public relies on us for objectivity, accuracy and investigative reporting. He shared various stories from his time at the “Star-Telegram” and experience covering the Pentagon in Washington. Though he is an extremely candid and captivating storyteller, making it hard to select a favorite story, I must admit that his tale about how the military found out how much sex people at the Pentagon were having for blackmail purposes before “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which involved a designated “condom catcher” to determine how many condoms had been flushed down the toilet, was utterly and painfully hilarious.

Onto a more serious story from Bob. He started talking about sacrifices journalists must make and shared with us that while he put in intensely long hours in his early days to become what he is today he felt he neglected his fatherly duties to his children. He said he regretted it and I think all of us internally thought about what sacrifices we have already made and will probably have to make this semester and later in our careers. While I know journalism requires a lot personally and professionally, we also discussed the excitement that is journalism and discovering a lead and then the actuality of its truth, creating the firework of passion for the trade to go off and remind us that even though we must give some things up, we hopefully will also discover the time in the story of our lives for the things that are truly valuable to us.