John King, CNN’s chief national correspondent and anchor of “John King USA,” will be speaking at AU Nov. 9.
The event is sponsored by the Kennedy Political Union and will be held in Ward 2 at 8:45 p.m.
King is known for pioneering the use of interactive technology on his show, such as the “multi-touch” board, and for his in-depth coverage of the last six U.S. presidential elections.
The Eagle and ATV sat down with King Oct. 31 at the CNN Washington bureau to talk about the 2012 elections, his show and his advice for students.
Q: What do you think about the GOP field so far? Who has the best chance against Obama?
KING: This is a remarkable race. … Look at the guy at the top right now — Herman Cain. Who knew who Herman Cain was a year ago? There’s a frustration with ‘politics as usual’ so a guy who’s different can emerge as a leader …
You have Mitt Romney, who’s the tortoise. He’s been slow and steady. … He has the money, resources, experience. The race in the Republican Party is: who is the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney? . ..If Romney can win two of the three [first primaries], or all three, it could be over. But if not, someone will emerge as the conservative challenger to Romney.
Q: You’re associated with pioneering technology at CNN, things like the multi-touch screen and using Facebook and Twitter on your show. What’s drawn you to that kind of technology, what attracts you to it?
KING: In some ways I’m an old AP guy with a pencil in my pocket and a notebook, and I remember fondly those days. However, that part of the business is either dying or sick. … It’d be the height of arrogance for anybody in the TV business to say, “You have to watch me to get your information,” because that’s laughable. You can get your information anytime you want it, almost any way you want it. With the world of technology changing, we have two choices: change or fail. ... If we don’t engage people in the conversation, we’ll lose them.
Q: You traveled to all 50 states during President Obama’s first year in office. What did you gather from your travels?
KING: Where you live shapes your views. Go to Nebraska, or Iowa, or Kansas. They think differently. Not because you’re wrong and they’re right or vice versa. It’s just because they live in a different place. … When you turn on C-SPAN and you see senators screaming … you sit there and you think, “They’re children. Why can’t they get along?” Well, sometimes they can’t get along because they represent very different people. … This country is a complicated, 50-state puzzle.
Q: What’s one story you’ve covered that made a lasting impression on you?
KING: I traveled with Vice President [Al] Gore when he went to the [Nelson] Mandela inauguration. And I’ve never been that close to something so remarkably page-turning. There’s three white guys in the whitest military suits you’ll ever see that come out and they hand the keys — essentially hand over control of the military — to Nelson Mandela. It was just stunning. You’re in this grand parliament building where they do the ceremony, and in a park right around the corner, you see the black citizens, the poorest of the poor, with tears of joy streaming down their face. I’ve never seen anything like it.
The flip side of that is I spent a few months in Banda Aceh, Indonesia after the tsunami [of 2004] hit. And it was numbing how sad it was. The losses, the devastation, people wandering, people who had nothing to begin with — lost. … Meeting people who were holding their babies and the power of water just took them out of their hands and floated them away. ... The tsunami is like a movie in my head. I can never get it out.
Q: What’s your best piece of advice for college students?
KING: Be curious, be passionate and don’t be afraid of your mistakes. You’re going to make so many mistakes. Life is not defined by falling down; life is defined by how you get up. If you’re afraid of falling down, there’s so much you won’t see and so much you won’t learn because you held yourself back. The only way to learn is to try. The only way to get tough is to get beat up a little bit. Be passionate about what you do and don’t be afraid to change. Everything around you is changing all the time. If you do something and you love it, and you feel like you’re losing it, don’t become bitter about it. Wrap it up and turn the next page.
