In the last 18 months, veteran journalist Soledad O’Brien has won a Peabody Award, an Independent Spirit Award, and was inducted into the Broadcasting + Cable Hall of Fame. Most recently she was awarded the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation Insight Award at the NAB Show in Las Vegas.
In part one of our conversation, she spoke on how journalism and reporting should be serving the public.
Part two consists of conversations about the media’s role in informing the public, credibility, and any tips for those looking to follow in her footsteps.
Krystina Carroll: Has the media lost its direction in serving the public?
Soledad O’Brien: I think the media sometimes forgets the goal. I think when you focus on serving, it becomes very clear about how you should think about telling stories. Right? I mean, again, food fights are very dramatic, sometimes very chaotic, but they often don’t help people understand the issue. Which is why we avoid them.
So, yeah, I certainly think the media could do a better job in helping people understand issues. But at the same time, the media today is competing with social media for eyeballs, competing for drama, competing for the salacious headlines for clickbait. And so I think it’s a really challenging time in media.
KC: I want to pivot a little bit. So a lot of times today, people in news are making cameos in movies. Does it damage the credibility of those news reporters?
SB: That’s so funny, because, over the years I’ve worked for news organizations that said you can definitely do it. And then CNN had a policy that you absolutely could not do it. And then CNN reversed their policy and you could do it. I
honestly think the audiences very much understand that movies are fake, right? I have never seen anyone who’s like, ‘I went into this story about a superhero not realizing that it wasn’t real, and people can’t fly.’ I mean, I think it’s ridiculous. So news organizations always kind of go back and forth.
But I played the reporter part of myself and it’s always been a lot of fun. But I don’t think anybody really thought that I was interviewing Superman, right? Just no one was confused at all.
KC: Did you prepare for that role in a different way, or did you just treat it like another day at work?
SB: No, because it’s acting, I don’t know how to act. I’m terrible. So my range is literally me. I can play me. That’s it. Nothing more. So it’s a lot of fun and I just try to enjoy it. And it’s a very slow process, right? You do it 100 times over and over and over again. And as long as I’m playing myself, it’s totally fine.
If I have to step out of my comfort zone into something else then I’m not very good. But it’s always fun. I got to work with Ben Affleck. I got to work with lots of stars and it’s been amazing. Usually, I do it for one day, and then you’re done.
KC: What’s the advice you have for young people who are looking to follow in your footsteps?
SB: I think in lots of ways there are so many more platforms and so many more opportunities. When I started, the way to get on TV was to convince someone to videotape you using a TV camera. Now our phones are basically TV quality.
I often hear from young people and I’ll say to them ‘If you’re interested, start a podcast now.’ Even if only six people listen to it, you will have something to talk about when you’re being interviewed. It’s such a great opportunity to just figure things out and create things. So, I really feel for people who are very interested in figuring out what they want to become, that [starting a podcast is] something they can really do pretty easily because technology is really helping them.
KC: Who has influenced you the most in your life and in your career?
SB: Oh my gosh. I think in my life, probably my mom and dad. I think they were really good people and they’ve been very supportive. At the risk of sounding like a cliche, they’ve always been very much like ‘If you put your head down, you can do it. You can do anything.’ That’s always a wonderful place to come from. If you can figure it out, you can do it.
I think in my career, I was really lucky to have a lot of great mentors. Gene Blake at WBZ-TV was amazing. Bob Ezell, when I got to NBC News. There were people who just gave you a lot of advice, a lot of perspective, and a lot of insight. They were just really smart. You could ask some questions about the industry and steps you could take and things like that. It was really, really helpful.
Then, of course, when I got to CNN, Dick Parsons — who was running Time Warner, which was the parent company at CNN — he was amazing. Again, just given an opportunity. It’s really hard to succeed if you don’t have someone who’s sort of saying, ‘I’m going to take a bet on you. I’m going to give you an opportunity.’
So a lot of those folks who I name just kind of gave me opportunities and gave me chances to succeed.
KC: You said earlier the jobs you’ve had before have prepared you for what comes next. You have your own media production group. You’re running your own show. So what comes next for you?
SB: Oh, gosh. That’s a little bit like asking someone who just had a baby ‘So when are you having the next baby?’ We’ve been running the company. This is our 11th year, and it still feels like it’s new.
I really, really enjoy it, but it just never ends. It’s a lot of work. You just kind of wake up every morning and you start sprinting, basically. But I really love it.
So I don’t know. I know that I would love to get into more scripted projects. We don’t do a lot of scripted. We do, obviously, non-scripted, and a lot of docs. I think that would be a fun thing. And I was doing the stories that I get to do. I just want to keep doing more of those and travel more. I still love traveling and I love the work I get to do. And I like working.
We did a podcast with Rob Reiner this year called Who Killed JFK? It was very successful, and it was just a joy to work with a really great, amazing director, but also amazing human beings.
So the more I think you can work on projects with great people and learn something from them and have a wonderful experience like that, that’s pretty cool. I can definitely do that ’til the end of time.
Krystina Alarcon Carroll is a news media columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. She has experience in almost every facet of the industry including: digital and print news; live, streamed, and syndicated TV; documentary and film productions. Her prior employers have included NY1 and Fox News Digital and the Law & Crime Network. You can find Krystina on X (formerly twitter) @KrystinaAlaCarr.
