Judy Woodruff (WC '68) covered politics and breaking news for three decades at NBC, PBS and CNN. She has reported on eight presidential elections, the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan and the September 11th terrorist attacks. In 2005, she left CNN partly to pursue teaching opportunities. This semester, Woodruff returned to Duke and is teaching a course called "Media and Politics."
Towerview: Right now, you're working on a project called Generation Next that focuses on the values and attitudes of young people today. So how do you think our generation is different than yours?
Judy Woodruff: Well there are a number of them.
First, your generation is closer to your parents than my generation was. You all were raised to be friends with them as well as their children. Your parents read more child psychology books, and many of your parents were conscious about building your self-esteem. A lot of your parents told you, "You don't have to win, you just have to show up and do your best." So, many of you have grown up feeling good about yourselves and, when you enter the work force, employers are noticing that you think you deserve certain things. Some have called it an air of entitlement that comes with your generation.
You are more diverse than any other American generation in history. So you are more accepting of people who are different. You are more accepting to concepts of interracial dating and gay rights at a higher degree than the older generation.
You are defined by technology. You expect to get what you need to know immediately. You grew up with your cell phones in your hands, your iPods hanging out of your ears and computers at your fingertips.
TV: Duke has been criticized as being a politically apathetic campus. Do you think this is true?
JW: No. Polls show that young people since the '60s and '70s have become less active in politics, less involved and, consequently, vote less. Do I think Duke is less active than other college campuses? Not at all, my sense is that young people here are just as active as they are in other places and at other campuses.
TV: As a Duke alumnus and now a professor, what is the biggest change you see since the time when you were a student?
JW: Well, I was never really away from the campus for a long time. I was a Trustee from 1985 to 1997, and I have come back for talks and other things. However, Duke is a much bigger campus; there is so much more infrastructure here now compared to when I was a student here. Also, the informality of the students, wearing sweat pants to class, really struck me as different. I think it is indicative of younger people today.
TV: What has been your most memorable experience as a journalist?
JW: I have covered every election since 1976, and the election that had the greatest impact for me was the 2000 presidential elections, when the television networks were wrong. We had egg all over our faces-not just CNN but all the television networks. That was the most Earth-shaking experience for me as a political journalist because I was used to knowing the answer, reporting the news and moving on. [This election] gave me a greater appreciation for how important it is to get it right because the media play such a big role in society today.
TV: How and why did you decide to pursue a career in journalism?
JW: I took a rather circuitous route. I had it in my head that I wanted to work in the government, so to prepare myself I worked in Washington for two summers. A number of women working on Capitol Hill were telling me that, at that time, women were not getting a fair chance, and it was not the place to work right after college.
Since I was taking a course in mass communication and politics, I decided I could explore how reporters cover politics temporarily before I went back to Washington. The ABC News Director in Atlanta hired me as secretary, and that was my foot in the door. For a while, I answered the phone, cleaned the film and organized the newsroom, really everything apart from taking out the trash.
TV: As the mother of an incoming freshman boy, what are you most afraid of?
JW: (Laugh) Um, I don't even know what I'm most afraid of. I guess that he won't get enough sleep and eat the right foods.
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