O'Brien Tells Students To Seek Truth in Media

Soledad O’Brien advised students at De Anza College in California to seek truth in media

“If you were in fact to drop dead tomorrow would there be people who talked about who you were? Not your title, but who you were as a human being? Real value cannot fit on a balance sheet. Real value is if you are creating something that’s meaningful.”

“I believe stories matter. I believe building trust with an audience matters. We can use the platform to tell real stories and have real debates and make people uncomfortable at times and give real information and do what we should do. Dig up those untold stories about who we are: as individuals, as people and as a nation.”

O’Brien left CNN in June2013 and created Starfish Media Group, a media company and distributor to fulfill her desire to focus on stories of people rather than what she calls "fluff" in much of TV news.

“Even though there’s tons to report on in poverty, education, prison reform, those stories don’t get on because there’s this beard story or this skating squirrel they think we should end with. That’s the reality of it.”

O’Brien also talked from the perspective of being the CEO of Starfish. “My biggest regret is that I never took an accounting class,” O’Brien said. “If you have any interest at all in doing anything independently, understand accounting and understand finance. Understand your value. Do great work. Charge people for your work.”

SOURCE: http://lavozdeanza.com