The LSU Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs hosted journalist John Walcott for a discussion and screening of the 2017 film “Shock and Awe” Wednesday evening in the Holliday Forum.
John Walcott was the Knight Ridder Newspapers Washington D.C. Bureau Chief in 2003 when President George W. Bush’s administration decided to invade Iraq on the notion that former Iraq President Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
The film “Shock and Awe,” directed by Rob Reiner, is based on Walcott’s leadership of a team of journalists that investigated Bush’s claims. It stars Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, James Marsden, Milla Jovovich and Jessica Biel.
Former Dean of the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication Jerry Ceppos welcomed the audience to the event and gave a brief overview of the film. Ceppos was the vice president for news for Knight Ridder Newspapers while Walcott’s team worked on its investigations.
The Reveille Editor-in-Chief Caleb Greene interviewed John Walcott during the first portion of the event. Greene asked Walcott about his background, advice he has for students aspiring to be journalists, his role as Bureau Chief of Knight Ridder and lessons he learned during the 2003 investigation.
Walcott encouraged the students in attendance to continue to pursue journalism, despite the obstacles they may face.
“Stick with it. Democracy needs you,” Walcott said to journalism students. “It’s a hard way to make a living, but it’s worth it.”
After the interview, audience members had the opportunity to ask Walcott questions.
One audience member asked Walcott about Colin Powell’s testimony to the United Nations Security Council in 2003 that defended the United States’ invasion of Iraq. Walcott said he thinks highly of Powell and that he was put in a tough position during the testimony. However, Powell’s testimony didn’t change Walcott’s mind about the situation.
Following the interview and questions from the audience, the film began.
Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs Program Coordinator Kelci Sibley said many University students were too young to remember the events that surrounded Sept. 11, 2001, and the U.S. invasion of Iraq. She hoped the opportunity to see “Shock and Awe” gave students a glimpse of the feelings and emotions many people experienced during that time.
“There’s this very strange mixture of fear and patriotism that go into the eventual invasion of Iraq,” Sibley said.
Public relations sophomore Mackenzie Messer said the event was especially beneficial for mass communication students, who had the opportunity to learn from an expert in the field they aspire to work in one day.
“I think it was so important to learn that you shouldn’t always [interview] the high-up people, but get the people who really experienced the event or situation,” Messer said.
The Reilly Center is also hosting “Lunch and Learns” for Manship School of Mass Communication students this semester that feature mass communication professionals who will discuss where mass communication degrees can take students following graduation. It is also hosting public events, such as a libel law panel discussion and a commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Click here for a list of events the Reilly Center is hosting this semester.
John Walcott discusses his journalism story on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019, at the Journalism Building.
