Published 2011-05-17T17:52:00Z”/>
Nicole Walker
National Public Radio host Scott Simon came to Chico May 10 with news to share.
Simon, who has covered everything from the events at Ground Zero to celebrities in Beverly Hills, gave his speech called “Covering War and Peace, Sports and Celebs, Diversity and Family” at Laxson Auditorium.
“Scott is like a musician,” said Chico Performances Director Dan DeWayne in an on-stage introduction. “He listens and really tries to get to the heart of things.”
Simon gathers, connects and distributes stories globally to four million listeners every week on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.
“His program gives my family a common discussion when we live in separate places all around the world,” said Rae Lee, an NPR listener and attendee of the lecture.
Simon opened the night with a yo-yo trick and a few jokes that had the audience smiling in approval as he proceeded to speak with a natural, calm and flowing pace.
His uplifting anecdotes and humorous tangents exemplified how he has humanized his work as a journalist.
“Journalism is the greatest career in the world,” Simon said. “As journalists, we change convictions, learn and listen as we go on.”
Good journalism opens the audience’s mind and challenges them, said audience member Paul Lee. A good journalist has to “question the answers.”
The profession requires a full understanding of oneself while maintaining the ability to disregard preconceived notions and approach stories, people and ideas with an open mind, Simon said.
The relationships Simon formed during his time reporting from a war in Sarajevo impassioned him to write the book “Pretty Birds,” which tells the story of a teenage girl who lived through that violent time, he said.
Simon has also written “Windy City,” “Home and Away” and “Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball.” His latest work, “Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other,” focuses on his roller-coaster ride of experiences with adoption.
Journalism, like art, has to have an emotional pull to be satisfying, Simon said.
“It engages you, doesn’t always make you happy or make you sad, he said, “but it still touches you.”
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<strong>Nicole Walker can be reached at</strong>
<em>[email protected]</em>
