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A conversation with Judy Woodruff, the former CNN news anchor(1)
Special：Xing Talk—Celebrities Interview
Editor’s Note: Xing Talk is a new column runs regularly by Xing Zong, a Chinese graduate student at Duke University pursuing a Ph.D. degree in physics. As a rocket scientist, Xing’s passion also lies in writing and interacting with people. He contributes to China.com regularly with his interesting interviews of Presidents in U.S. top universities, Nobel Laureates, business/law school deans and leading academicians. As Xing said, “my biggest discovery after arriving in U.S. was that my first name “Xing” had a nice interpretation of the on-road sign crossing. Indeed, I stand at the cross road of two different cultures and eager to connect Uncle Sam and Red Dragon.” Recently Xing held an exclusive interview with Judy Woodruff, the former CNN news anchor.
Judy Woodruff(Right) and Zong Xing(Left)
About Judy Woodruff
Judy Woodruff is an American television news anchor and journalist. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Woodruff served as the chief White House correspondent for NBC from 1977 to 1982, as well as covering Washington for the Today show. She moved from NBC to PBS, and from 1984 to 1990 was the host of Frontline. During her time at PBS she also reported for The MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour.
From 1993 to June 2005, she was the host of Inside Politics on CNN. She decided not to renew her contract with CNN, looking toward teaching, writing, and working on documentaries. In August 2005, Woodruff was named a visiting fellow for the fall semester at Harvard University's Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. She is currently teaching the course "Media and Politics" at Duke University.
In 2006 Woodruff returned to PBS to work on a documentary about young people and their thoughts on world events, produced in conjunction with MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. In addition to her work on the documentary, which will be called Generation Next: Speak Up. Be Heard. Woodruff serves as a Special Correspondent on the News Hour, typically as a moderator for discussions on politics and economics. She also fills in occasionally as anchor of the NewsHour. Additionally, in 2006, as a guest correspondent, Woodruff also contributed to the National Public Radio (NPR) Morning Edition week-long series "Muslims In America" as part of NPR's fifth-year observance of the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks.
Z: Good evening, Judy. Welcome back to Duke! Let me first ask you this: your first taste of limelight was at age 17 when you won a hometown beauty pageant. How did that success affect you?
W: That was so long ago. It was such a small part of my life. I was a junior in high school. It was very exciting but it was such a tiny thing in my life. My life was mostly going to school, I was in girl’s scout, I was interested in going to college. I was thinking of what I was going to do. I did that, it wasn’t so much of a beauty contest; it was “Junior Miss”. You have to show some talent, and gave a presentation. It was good for me to learn how to speak in public.
Z: Nowadays if a girl wins a title in the beauty contest, a safe bet is that she will become an actress. Why do you choose to become a journalist? Especially why political journalist?
W: Well, I originally started at a different college, called Meredith, a different college in Raleigh, North Carolina. I was thinking of majoring in mathematics, that’s my interest. I wasn’t sure what I want to do, but I knew I did well in math in the SAT. I took some courses in calculus and I also took some courses in political science. I fell in love with political science. I never studied government before. I had professors who were very excited about government and politics. Then I thought I would major in political science.
I then transfer to Duke. Originally I was on the waiting list and then I got into Duke as a junior. I chose politics as my major and the got a summer internship in Washington. I did that for two summers with the congressman in Georgia, answering the phone and running out. But the second summer I was in Washington in 1967. The women who worked with me in the office were college graduates, law school graduates. Women didn’t get many opportunities, so you shouldn’t go back to Washington right after college. I was very disappointed by that.
I thought I could go to Washington and do something important, but they said, no, women can’t do anything. So I went back to Duke in my senior year, I happen to be picking one course in politics and mass communication. I then talked with my professor, said, maybe I could go to journalism and cover politics. My role in journalism was mainly because my interest in politics and government.
I got a job as a secretary in a television news department in Atlanta, Georgia in a local station. That’s the history.
Z: People would describe politics as pursue of power. From your perspective, what turns you on about politics?
W: Politics is the art of the possible. It is what you can do for people, and I love people. I love to study what makes people do things. I am interested in public policy, interested in having done with the great and good. I grew up in high school when John Kennedy was president and assassinated, it had a very deep impression on me. Because I thought he was someone who showed an example how you can do things for your country. So when I went to college, that’s part of what’s back in my mind that I was interested in political science. From that I became interested in political science.
Why I am interested? Because I think it is the art of doing things for other people. Study it now for 45 years, I watch some people do it well; some people do it not very well. I think there is still some problem in this country, some of them do a good job, some of them don’t do a good job. But I think you still need to pay attention to it.
Editor’s Note: Xing Talk is a new column runs regularly by Xing Zong, a Chinese graduate student at Duke University pursuing a Ph.D. degree in physics. As a rocket scientist, Xing’s passion also lies in writing and interacting with people. He contributes to China.com regularly with his interesting interviews of Presidents in U.S. top universities, Nobel Laureates, business/law school deans and leading academicians. As Xing said, “my biggest discovery after arriving in U.S. was that my first name “Xing” had a nice interpretation of the on-road sign crossing. Indeed, I stand at the cross road of two different cultures and eager to connect Uncle Sam and Red Dragon.” Recently Xing held an exclusive interview with Judy Woodruff, the former CNN news anchor.
Judy Woodruff(Right) and Zong Xing(Left)
About Judy Woodruff
Judy Woodruff is an American television news anchor and journalist. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Woodruff served as the chief White House correspondent for NBC from 1977 to 1982, as well as covering Washington for the Today show. She moved from NBC to PBS, and from 1984 to 1990 was the host of Frontline. During her time at PBS she also reported for The MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour.
From 1993 to June 2005, she was the host of Inside Politics on CNN. She decided not to renew her contract with CNN, looking toward teaching, writing, and working on documentaries. In August 2005, Woodruff was named a visiting fellow for the fall semester at Harvard University's Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. She is currently teaching the course "Media and Politics" at Duke University.
In 2006 Woodruff returned to PBS to work on a documentary about young people and their thoughts on world events, produced in conjunction with MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. In addition to her work on the documentary, which will be called Generation Next: Speak Up. Be Heard. Woodruff serves as a Special Correspondent on the News Hour, typically as a moderator for discussions on politics and economics. She also fills in occasionally as anchor of the NewsHour. Additionally, in 2006, as a guest correspondent, Woodruff also contributed to the National Public Radio (NPR) Morning Edition week-long series "Muslims In America" as part of NPR's fifth-year observance of the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks.
Z: Good evening, Judy. Welcome back to Duke! Let me first ask you this: your first taste of limelight was at age 17 when you won a hometown beauty pageant. How did that success affect you?
W: That was so long ago. It was such a small part of my life. I was a junior in high school. It was very exciting but it was such a tiny thing in my life. My life was mostly going to school, I was in girl’s scout, I was interested in going to college. I was thinking of what I was going to do. I did that, it wasn’t so much of a beauty contest; it was “Junior Miss”. You have to show some talent, and gave a presentation. It was good for me to learn how to speak in public.
Z: Nowadays if a girl wins a title in the beauty contest, a safe bet is that she will become an actress. Why do you choose to become a journalist? Especially why political journalist?
W: Well, I originally started at a different college, called Meredith, a different college in Raleigh, North Carolina. I was thinking of majoring in mathematics, that’s my interest. I wasn’t sure what I want to do, but I knew I did well in math in the SAT. I took some courses in calculus and I also took some courses in political science. I fell in love with political science. I never studied government before. I had professors who were very excited about government and politics. Then I thought I would major in political science.
I then transfer to Duke. Originally I was on the waiting list and then I got into Duke as a junior. I chose politics as my major and the got a summer internship in Washington. I did that for two summers with the congressman in Georgia, answering the phone and running out. But the second summer I was in Washington in 1967. The women who worked with me in the office were college graduates, law school graduates. Women didn’t get many opportunities, so you shouldn’t go back to Washington right after college. I was very disappointed by that.
I thought I could go to Washington and do something important, but they said, no, women can’t do anything. So I went back to Duke in my senior year, I happen to be picking one course in politics and mass communication. I then talked with my professor, said, maybe I could go to journalism and cover politics. My role in journalism was mainly because my interest in politics and government.
I got a job as a secretary in a television news department in Atlanta, Georgia in a local station. That’s the history.
Z: People would describe politics as pursue of power. From your perspective, what turns you on about politics?
W: Politics is the art of the possible. It is what you can do for people, and I love people. I love to study what makes people do things. I am interested in public policy, interested in having done with the great and good. I grew up in high school when John Kennedy was president and assassinated, it had a very deep impression on me. Because I thought he was someone who showed an example how you can do things for your country. So when I went to college, that’s part of what’s back in my mind that I was interested in political science. From that I became interested in political science.
Why I am interested? Because I think it is the art of doing things for other people. Study it now for 45 years, I watch some people do it well; some people do it not very well. I think there is still some problem in this country, some of them do a good job, some of them don’t do a good job. But I think you still need to pay attention to it.
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