Award-winning newsman visits campus
Ashley Feibish / News Editor
Former war correspondent and ABC “Good Morning
America” anchorman Steve Bell is on campus this week
serving as the Visiting Professor of Leadership.
Bell arrived Tuesday night and will be on campus until
Friday. His schedule allows him to interact with students and
faculty throughout the day during his stay. In addition to
his lectures, Bell will visit communications classes, members
of the Isabella Cannon Leadership Program and meet with
faculty members.
Rex Waters, assistant dean of students, said many people are
responsible for bringing Bell to campus. Students and faculty
submitted nominations and requests. Ultimately, Gerry
Francis, provost and vice president for academic affairs,
Nancy Midgette, associate provost and President Leo Lambert
chose to bring Bell to campus.
“They (visiting professors) have to be able to come
and stay for an extended period. That’s one of the key
components because we want them to have multiple interactions
on campus,” Waters said.
Senior Dan Hanson will be the liaison between Bell and the
school during his stay.
“It’s a good thing we can bring leaders like him
to campus. It brings a different perspective, especially when
you can tie leadership into it,” Hanson said. “I
hope students will take the opportunity to see him;
he’ll have interesting things to talk about.”
Since joining ABC News in 1967, Bell has covered numerous
events that have changed the nation, including the
assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Bell was also a war
correspondent during the Vietnam War, during which the Viet
Cong captured him and his camera crew at gunpoint. Bell
currently serves as a professor of telecommunications at Ball
State University in Muncie, Ind.
Last night Bell gave the first of his two public lectures,
“The Media and Politics.” His second lecture,
titled “The Media and the Military: From Vietnam to
Iraq,” will be presented at 7:30 tonight in Whitley
Auditorium.
In an interview with the Pendulum late last week, Bell said
he was looking forward to his first visit to Elon. He also
said he’d heard good things about Elon’s programs
and had great respect for the students and faculty.
Bell said he hoped to address how the media has affected
various political campaigns. A veteran to the White House
press core, Bell covered Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter and
Reagan.
“Every White House tries to manipulate the media,
restrict access and dictate daily information,” Bell
said, “(President) Bush has been far more effective in
‘staying on the message.’”
Bell also offered advice for those interested in covering
politics. “If you’re covering a political
campaign, try to maintain your distance and
objectivity,” he said.
Bell’s lecture tonight will reflect what he said he
considers one of his most life-changing events, the Vietnam
War. “It is very hard to pick one (most memorable)
moment. There are so many different ones. Vietnam had the
most profound effect on me,” Bell said. While Bell will
cover the media’s impact from Vietnam through Iraq, he
said “It (Vietnam) was by far the least restrictive
war. There was no censorship.”
In Vietnam, there was a policy known as “space
available,” Bell said. If there was space available on
a plane, helicopter, or other transportation device, a
journalist could take it and go cover the news.
Bell will be using video during his lecture depicting
different ways the media has portrayed war reporting. In
terms of Iraq, Bell said he thought the media acted
responsibly. “I think (the media coverage) was
remarkably positive, although embedded journalists only get a
small piece of a big picture.”
Bell continues to work on radio and television projects. He
also directs seminars on the politics and the media for
Washington Center. Bell has spoken at many universities
around the nation, including his alma matter, Northwestern,
the University of Pennsylvania, The George Washington
University, Princeton and Duke, among others.
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