NPR radio host shares advice with aspiring journalists at IU

Michele Norris, host of National Public Radio's "All Things Considered," urged young journalists to get away from their computer screens and venture out into world in her speech Monday night at the Indiana Memorial Union. \n"It is too easy for journalists to rely on the Web rather than rely on fresh, new streams of original information," Norris said, standing in front of a room full of students with open laptops and running tape recorders in the Whittenberger Auditorium. \nNorris began her speech, titled "Cut and Paste Journalism," by praising recent technological advances in the field and calling search tools like Google and LexisNexis "journalistic jackpots." \nBut she quickly changed her tone to say that too many journalists are using these tools to report the news without checking their credibility. \n"If you are a journalist and you are going to bet your news organization's credibility on a report, wouldn't you ideally want to know something about the source of all that information?" Norris asked.\nShe gave the audience examples from her experiences as a journalist in radio, print and television, and said that speaking directly with a source builds trustworthy relationships based on credible information.\n"When you are always talking with someone down the line instead of looking them in the eye, something gets lost," she said, "You lose the accidental discovery. You lose something when you can't read their body."\nThe audience listened intently and broke into laughter several times throughout her speech as Norris encouraged their input.\nBloomington resident and NPR listener Jean Boquist said although much of the speech was directed toward journalists, she still enjoyed Norris' message. \n"I think it was interesting the way she talked about the importance of person-to-person contact," Boquist said. "And I find that the fact that NPR's stories are in-depth is very interesting."\nBefore becoming a co-host of the popular NPR radio show "All Things Considered," Norris worked as a correspondent for ABC News and has also reported for the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune.\nNorris is the second of three presenters in the School of Journalism's speaker series, which invites award-winning journalists to share their experiences. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anna Quindlen will speak at 7 p.m. Nov. 1 at Alumni Hall in the Indiana Memorial Union to conclude the series. \nBeth Moellers, director of communications at the School of Journalism, said having Norris speak brought broadcast experience to the school as well as unique diversity. \n"You don't get much more high-quality journalism than National Public Radio," Moellers said. \nAfter the speech, audience members lined up behind a microphone to ask Norris questions about everything from her advice to budding journalists to her thoughts on the recent scandal involving former Florida Rep. Mark Foley.\nBut a majority of the audience members wanted to praise Norris for her work at NPR. \n"Even though we operate on a spit-shine budget, we are often viewed as the gold standard," Norris said, "What we have earned through good hard work is the trust of our listeners"