On Sunday, CNN news anchor Jake Tapper 鈥�91, will address the graduates and families of the Class of 2017 at commencement. But on Saturday, class day, the award-winning journalist and bestselling author met 26 seniors in a more intimate setting鈥攁 luncheon sponsored by the Office of the President in the Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning (DCAL) conference room.
The conversation ranged from the role of media in politics to how to find a fulfilling career to whether he was friends with his classmate Shonda Rhimes 鈥�91 at Dartmouth (answer: 鈥淲e became friends after graduation.鈥�) to what public figures he would most like to interview (鈥渢he Pope, Vladimir Putin, or Bashar al-Assad鈥�).
Ethan Blackwood 鈥�17, a computer science and neuroscience major from Framingham, Mass., asked Tapper what he finds most frustrating about reporting in the current political climate.
鈥淭he whole thing of calling us 鈥榝ake news,鈥� 鈥� Tapper said, of the Trump administration鈥檚 tendency to deflect negative stories. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really frustrating because almost without exception every story that the president has called fake news has been 100 percent true, 100 percent accurate. It鈥檚 not fake, he just doesn鈥檛 like it.鈥�
Tapper sees the 鈥渇ake news鈥� accusation as an attempt 鈥渢o undermine our credibility so that, with anything we report on him, there鈥檚 a segment of the population that won鈥檛 believe it. And I think he鈥檚 succeeded to that degree. And it鈥檚 just a shame, because it undermines the very important role that the press plays in providing some oversight on people in power.鈥�
Nicole Castillo 鈥�17, a double major in government and Asian and Middle Eastern studies, wanted to know how Tapper got his big break.
鈥淵ears and years and years of hard work,鈥� Tapper said鈥攁 long process of working his way from his first journalism job in the 1990s 鈥渦p the food chain. I left ABC news in 2012 because I wanted to be an anchor, and CNN was offering me a show,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 thought I would be decent at it, and then it鈥檚 taken me years of being an anchor and just working hard.鈥�
Helen Nam 鈥�17, a government major from Oakdale Gardens, N.Y., wanted to know if he had ever quit a job, or if he thought there was ever a good reason to do so.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 have a job that I really loved until I was 29, so that鈥檚 a whole bunch of quitting and wanting to quit,鈥� Tapper said. 鈥淏ut when you鈥檙e 48 and you鈥檙e sitting here talking to the Class of 3050, or whatever, you shouldn鈥檛 be in a job you want to quit. I mean, I love my job. I never want to quit, ever. I have so much fun鈥擨 talk to smart people all day. But it took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do.鈥�
Students were selected to attend the luncheon by lottery鈥攍ucky for Priyah Ramaiah 鈥�17, who served as managing editor of The Dartmouth and considers Tapper a role model. 鈥淲hen I saw the opportunity to have lunch with an incredible journalist, I was so excited,鈥� she said. Asked before the lunch began if she had anything she wanted to ask Tapper, she pulled out a list of questions on her phone. 鈥淵eah, I have a bunch.鈥�
When her turn came, she chose a challenging one: She wanted to know what Tapper thought about members of the media who display explicit political biases, versus trying to maintain journalistic objectivity.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 care for it, myself,鈥� Tapper said, though he acknowledged that partisan journalism could play an important function. 鈥淚 think the problem is when people in the public don鈥檛 understand the difference. I鈥檓 not a big fan of the putting on team jerseys and watching the news kind of spectacle that鈥檚 going on,鈥� whether on the right or the left.
鈥淲hat I like is when somebody who鈥檚 partisan or ideological just labels it, owns it, acknowledges it, and then I can read it through that lens,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I think it鈥檚 always good and healthy to understand how people who are different from you view things, whether left or right, but I don鈥檛 like when people can鈥檛 tell the difference between what I do and what Hannity does or what Maddow does, because honestly I don鈥檛 think I do anything remotely like what they do. I think that I鈥檓 an anchor and I piss off the left and I piss off the right. I鈥檓 just trying to be a journalist, and they are advocates.鈥�
Tegwyth Alderson-Taber 鈥�17, a theater and environmental studies double major and aspiring actor from Saint Petersburg, Fla., wanted career advice. 鈥淲hat decisions did you made in the first five to 10 years after graduation, looking back, that you鈥檙e really happy that you made, or informed where you were going?鈥�
Tapper hedged slightly, acknowledging that Alderson-Taber鈥檚 question would be the topic of his commencement address the next day. 鈥淏ut I will say that you should not stress about if your next job is going to be the one that leads you to your Academy Award. You have your life, you have time to figure it out.鈥�
Afterward, Alderson-Taber said Tapper鈥檚 message had hit home. 鈥淪eeing someone who was in my shoes once is really inspiring,鈥� she said. 鈥淗earing someone who is very successful in his field say that you don鈥檛 have to have a specific job right away is really good for me to hear. It was a really great kind of end to my senior year right before graduation.鈥�
