Fresh from anchoring Face the Nation on Sunday from Miami, Bob Schieffer headlined some special events this week at his namesake, the Schieffer School of Journalism at Texas Christian University.
A 1959 TCU alum, Schieffer is actively involved with the School. After all, he tells TVNewser, “if it’s going to have my name on it, I want it to be the best.”
On Monday, the CBS newsman co-hosted a free campus screening of 1987’s Broadcast News with CBS’ 48 Hours EP Susan Zirinsky. Zirinsky was a technical adviser on the film and the inspiration for Holly Hunter’s character.
Then today, Schieffer and wife Pat helped cut a ribbon at the official dedication ceremony for the School’s new multi-platform media convergence lab. “We’re really proud of it,” says Schieffer.
The lab is intended to help students prepare for a shifting media landscape. “It’s tough,” Schieffer says about the state of journalism. “And it is tough to get jobs…[But] you can’t have a democracy without accurate information…there will always be a need for accurate information…”
His trip to Texas complete, Schieffer is now trying to get home to Washington — but his flight today was canceled due to weather. Schieffer instead is hoping to fly to New York tonight on Zirinsky’s flight and then take Amtrak to DC tomorrow.
It’s a busy pace that Schieffer loves. “I keep saying I’m going to retire, and then something happens, and I never do. I’m not!” he says with a laugh. He says he has a long-term, “open-ended” contract, and “so I’m just going to keep doing Face the Nation as long as they want me to do it.”
(Photos: Chance Welch, TCU Daily Skiff)