Laurie Pfeifer

First of all, one of the things that impacted me and made me realize the role that I could play, and particularly in balanced coverage happened clear back when I was in college.

And I date myself this way, but it was when Robert Kennedy and Richard Nixon were running for president, and both of them made either whistle stops or short visits to the community, and I was a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, and I was a Bobby Kennedy supporter all the way.

My instructor – my professor – gave me the assignment of covering Bobby Kennedy’s whistle stop at the train station, and I was just ecstatic. But he said, by the way, you’re also going to cover Richard Nixon, and your grade depends on your balanced coverage.

It made me – it was probably the defining moment in my career – because it made me realize it’s not just a grade, you know, it’s the information that you present to give a clear and balanced way of reporting.

So that was one of the defining moments in [my development.] It carried me through. And I think about it a lot. Even if I fall on one side of an issue, I realize my personal feelings don’t come through.

It’s the accurate information that comes through.