NPR's Susan Stamberg speaks to importance of liberal arts

Broadcast journalist and founding member of National Public Radio Susan Stamberg spoke about the importance of a liberal arts education and her career as a cultural correspondent on Tuesday afternoon in the Jepson Alumni Center.

"When done really well, a broadcast interview gives 34 million listeners the illusion that they are eavesdropping," Stamberg said to a large audience that nearly filled the Robins Pavilion.

Stamberg became one of the first hosts of the NPR show All Things Considered, and has been inducted to both the Broadcasting Hall of Fame and the National Radio Hall of Fame.

After over 20,000 interviews, Stamberg said that her favorite interview was with author and literary journalist Joan Didion in 1977. Stamberg said Didion told her, "What interests a great fiction writer is only rarely what interests, in the same situation, a reporter."

Stamberg said that her work as a cultural correspondent allowed her to have a commitment to community. According to Stamberg, she believes that a liberal arts education forms a well-rounded human being.

"A creative mind has always held more information than a political one," Stamberg said. She explained that artists are free to speak their minds while politicians hold back because of what depends on their words.

Sophomore journalism student Katie Thompson said she recognized Stamberg's voice immediately. "She made a lot of great points about the different sides of journalism," Thompson said.

Stamberg also discussed her love of art and the importance of reporting on new novels, dance and film. She argued that different forms of art "vitalize culture in ways that the latest piece of legislation cannot."

Thompson said she enjoyed hearing about more than just factual reporting. She also said that Stamberg focused on things that were, "oftentimes forgotten or overlooked by newspapers and televised news."

At the end of her talk, Stamberg answered questions posed by members of the audience. Her first question asked her to address critics who say that NPR is a liberal radio station.

Stamberg told the audience that NPR is liberal, just as liberal education is liberal:

"Journalism is a liberal enterprise," she said. "We are not there to conserve or maintain the status quo. We are there to shine the brightest light we can find, or the most sensitive microphone, onto abuses and misuses of power."

Contact reporter Molly McGrath at molly.mcgrath@richmond.edu