Times columnist visits campus

The last time David Brooks was on IU’s campus, he went to a football game with his son Joshua, a sophomore studying history.

But on Tuesday, the New York Times op-ed columnist and PBS NewsHour commentator returned to campus to address the politics and culture surrounding the 2012 election as a guest of the Center on Congress at IU and School of Journalism for their Speaker Series.     

He spoke at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, and his audience represented the people living between the juxtaposed worlds of journalism and politics.

“Since the tensions between politicians and journalists are well known, our speaker tonight is taking a real gamble,” said Lee Hamilton, former Indiana congressman and director of the Center on Congress, as he introduced Brooks. “But good journalism is at the heart of making our democracy work. We cannot have a free society without a free press.”

Brooks took to the lectern and jumped into a humorous story about overly aggressive politicians and the lack of modesty in American society. But he said Hamilton was
the exception.

“What I do is cover politicians, and Lee Hamilton is not normal,” he jokingly said.
Brooks addressed several aspects of society he said have lead to the problems America faces today, including the way Americans spend, executive compensation and the growing polarization in politics.

He said the country is trying to correct its flaws, though.

“What I am trying to describe is a country reacting to economic crisis by returning back to values, but they are not sure they see the political leadership to get them there,” he said.

His conclusion was a more positive reflection, admitting he has great faith in the American population younger than 30.

“I put more stock in what people are doing, the way they are cutting down their debt and the way they are shifting their behavior, than deliverance in politics,” he said.
Brooks left journalism students with a note of encouragement.

“I used to think journalism was waning,” he said. “People are willing to pay for it, even though they can get around the pay wall, because they value it.”

Freshman journalism major Jennifer Gehrke attended the lecture and said she appreciated what Brooks had to say about the future of journalism.

“That was one of the first encouraging things I’ve heard about journalism in a long time,” she said.

Media Scholar John Sullivan, a freshman double majoring in journalism and English, said he has been reading Brooks’ column since middle school and dropped everything to attend the lecture Tuesday.

“He basically summarized the problems with politics, society and the media,”
Sullivan said.