Thursday, March 28, 2024

CNN journalists to speak on campus

October 20, 2000

Political pundits Mark Shields and Robert Novak will discuss the heated 2000 presidential election on campus next week.

They will be the featured speakers for the third annual Broad Distinguished Lecture Series.

The nationally known journalists will visit MSU on Tuesday for “Novak & Shields Debate Campaign 2000,” a discussion about the state of politics in Washington and the presidential campaign.

The event, sponsored by the Eli Broad Graduate School of Management, will be held at Wharton Center’s Pasant Theatre at 6:30 p.m. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Bob Metzger, director of marketing and communications for The Eli Broad College of Business, said the speakers were chosen to share their political expertise with the community at an important time - just two weeks before the election.

“Rather than biases from politicians, you are going to hear from two of the most highly regarded political journalists,” Metzger said.

Both men have long histories covering national politics as reporters, columnists, authors and commentators. They appear together on CNN’s “The Capital Gang,” an award-winning roundtable forum, and “Evans, Novak, Hunt & Shields,” an in-depth interview show.

“I think these folks are well-known journalists who have a tremendous amount of insight as to what people are thinking around the country,” said James Henry, dean of the Eli Broad College of Business. “We are fortunate to have them come.”

Novak said he’s covered 11 presidential campaigns and attended 22 national conventions. And he said his years of experience have helped him become more politically informed.

“I’m just a reporter,” he said in an interview with The State News. “But after covering politics for that long, you’re going to learn something.”

Novak said the discussion will center mostly around the presidential candidates’ campaigns and recent debates, with some emphasis on their own election predictions.

“We hope to give a better understanding of some issues,” Novak said. “And we may even make it more interesting than (Democrat Vice President Al) Gore and (Republican Texas Gov. George W.) Bush.”

The journalists have some major differences in their viewpoints - Novak is a conservative, Shields is a liberal. And that’s sure to give the high-profile pundits a lot to debate about. The duo present similar discussions at least two times each year, in which Novak said they tend to dramatize disagreements and throw in humor. But this lecture might be more interesting, as the presidential race is one of the closest ever.

Metzger said 400 people have already made reservations to attend the event, but he hopes to fill the remaining 200 seats soon.

He said the lecture series was established to emphasize the business college as a service to the community as well as to MSU students.

Henry said the response has been large so far, but he encourages more students to attend. Novak agrees.

“I hope they take time out of their day to think about the campaigns,” Novak said.

Reservations can be made by calling 355-8368 or by e-mailing rsvp@bus.msu.edu.

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