For the Sake of Journalism

Class Day has always been an occasion for the Harvard senior class to select a prominent public individual to deliver a stimulating and humorous speech, as a quick scan of the roster of speakers indicates. In the past, classes have invited everyone from former U.S. Presidents such as Bill Clinton in 2007 to comedians like Will Ferrell in 2003. While some of those names may be bigger than this year’s choice, we have no doubt that Christiane Amanpour, CNN’s chief international correspondent, will provide the Class of 2010 with a unique, global perspective that is very worthy of all seniors’ attention.

As one of today’s most fearless journalists—not to mention one of the most highly respected names on television—Amanpour’s accomplishments speak for themselves. From her impassioned coverage of the siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War to her famed 2002 phone interview with Yasser Arafat, Amanpour has reported on location from more danger zones and interviewed more notorious and controversial figures than most of her colleagues in either Europe or the United States. With her own show, “Amanpour,” which debuted this past September, she has now begun to push the envelope for U.S. television journalism by devoting more attention to in-depth investigations viewed with an international lens. Before last year’s Class Day speech, students complained that speaker Matt Lauer was hardly a relevant choice. As such, we applaud the Class Day committee’s apparent decision to reevaluate its selection standards, and we challenge anyone to say the same of Amanpour as they did of Lauer.

Amanpour is also the first woman to speak at Class Day since 1994, when Lani C. Guinier ’71, then assistant attorney general for civil rights, was chosen. The speakers themselves send messages just as important as the contents of their speeches, and we believe that the selection of a woman—an extremely qualified, experienced, and talented woman—has the potential to inspire more than just Harvard women to achieve new heights of success.

Along the same lines, we feel that inviting a journalist of the highest caliber to speak at Class Day will serve to inspire those students interested in pursuing journalism after they leave Harvard. The College offers substantial counseling and resources for those planning to enter the celebrated worlds of finance, consulting, medicine, and law, but journalism is a career path often overlooked and, in some respects, neglected altogether. Although traditional media forms—including print newspapers like this one—may become obsolete in the years ahead, we cannot stress enough the importance of eager and intelligent young people who can usher the field of journalism into the next generation and guarantee its continued relevance to society. As members of a news organization ourselves, we at The Crimson could not have asked for a more inspiring speaker than Christiane Amanpour.