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CBS News “60 Minutes Sports” correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi gave the commencement address at Meek School of Journalism and New Media at Ole Miss. It’s being called inspiring, hilarious and a brutally honest look at the TV news business.
Alfonsi, a 1994 Ole Miss grad, began with a joke about another alum. “I know the one and only reason I am here is because Shepard Smith was clearly not available.”
With changes all around for journalism and what it means to be a journalist, Alfonsi’s thesis was this: “Do NOT take no for an answer.”
You are applying for work in journalism, not trying to get hired as a social secretary. The people who may hire you respect grit. They respect tenacity, and in my experience, I have found they are generally unlikely to issue a restraining order. Prove that you want it. The food court at the mall is littered with journalism students who didn’t fight for it. Fight for it.
Watch after the jump…
> Related: TVNewser’s 2013 Guide to Commencement Speakers