The Clarion had the chance to sit down with ABC’s Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Martha Raddatz for a short interview last Monday evening after she gave a speech at Lamont regarding her more than thirty-year career in journalism and foreign affairs. Raddatz is well known for her time spent reporting on the war in Iraq, her book “The Long Road Home,” published in 2007, as well as her position as moderator for the Vice Presidential debate last October. As follows, are the questions we asked and her responses:
What is the biggest issue that you think college students should be educated on? What should we be concerned about in terms of international news?
I think if you haven’t traveled, and obviously most college kids haven’t, then seeing how America is perceived is sometimes different than you would think. I think Americans tend to think, and your generation not as much as mine, that everybody just loves us and I think that is not always the case. Some of [these stereotypes] are not real. Some of it is rumors, but some of it is real. Think about trying to change the world [and] about how America is viewed. I think theres’ a lot of repair to do.
What do you think we can do with that? What can we do to change that perception?
I don’t know, I guess it’s probably what we, as a nation, haven’t figured out… We send groups overseas, we send singers. I think all that helps – I think sports help, and cultural outreach. Our reporter in Iran the other day, David Muir – I was sort of stunned, I didn’t even realize this- but [he reported] there was a wrestling match between the US and Iran. So that kind of outreach was still going on.
But I think that’s all from knowing people. If they know you or they know Americans in a different light, I think that’s important.
Around 65 percent of our students study abroad so it’s definitely something that is important for them to know.
It is, and it’s important to keep up exchanges. It doesn’t always work, we’ve trained a lot of troops that go right back and shoot us.
Do you have any advice for aspiring journalists?
Find something you really love. Whether that’s foreign affairs, whether that’s city beat, whether it’s whatever and learn it.[Thinks for a bit] Here’s my better advice: learn how to be a reporter, because I see a lot of people coming through and a lot of people have no idea how to be a reporter. And it’s so easy, Google children, that you can look up everything. I started really at the bottom of the ladder I think that’s important.
Unless you are a brilliant writer and that’s what you want to do, or you’re a brilliant foreign policy mind and you’re going to bring that…but [it is important] to fundamentally know how to pick up the phone and say “What? Why did you guys do that today?” or “Who’s working on that case?”
When I started covering the military, I knew nothing about the military, but I had a completely open mind about it and I wanted to learn everything about it and I had a fundamental respect.
On the other end of the spectrum, students wishing to get a little bit more involved in foreign policy, what are some simple steps that they could take to start that?
I think I would go to the State Department website, and the CIA website. [Laughing] I’m going to get slapped for that, but you know there are analyst jobs that are fascinating and I know a lot of young people who have ended up at the agency. You’re not a secret spy, you’re an analyst.
I would actually-and this will sound insane to you guys probably-look at intelligence jobs in the military as another option, or a lawyer in the military. There are all kinds of jobs within the military that people don’t know exist. You’re an intelligence officer.
A lot of women have done that over the years because of the combat exclusion. A friend of mine named Matt Sherman went into the state department. You take a foreign service exam, and you end up posted in embassies around the world.
What about students that don’t necessarily want to get involved in a career, but just want to be more involved in being an active member of their country?
Knowing the world? Then I would go to major news sources – [such as] the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and National Public Radio. We [ABC] are too, but not to the extent that they are. So I would read that, and click on Foreign News and click on the world.
There’s also a website called GlobalPost which has a lot of young people around the world [writing] for them. One girl [who I taught at Wesleyan] is interested in foreign news coverage and is writing for GlobalPost now, just a few dispatches, but that’s the way you start.
When I was your age I had no idea there were a million perspectives, so, I was really quite clueless. I still think there’s hope for my son.
I think a lot of people our age don’t really take a global look at things. What do you think?
Look at our budget, look where your tax dollars are going. For foreign aid, for the military, for all those things…you should know about this stuff
