Recent students walked across the stage on a picture-perfect May 15 morning as Class of 2009 graduates at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism Commencement ceremonies (Photos here).
More than 700 doctoral, master's and bachelor's degree alumni listened to former president and CEO of E! Entertainment Television and executive vice president and general manager of MTV and VH1 Jarl Mohn (pictured, right, video here) and Executive Producer and host of KCRW’s Which Way L.A.? and To the Point Warren Olney (pictured, below left) deliver keynote speeches to the
Mohn said he has three wishes for the Class of 2009: For them to have "dumb luck," "to have no failures," and "to be crazy delusional and wildly outrageous in what you see for yourself."
He said the students have a greater opportunity to come across dumb luck in their futures because of the position in which they already put themselves.
"You have already made at least one great decision and that was choosing USC and the Annenberg School," he said. "The USC network is legendary. Your friends, classmates, alum and faculty will be of great help to you. By coming here you have upped your odds of getting lucky. I hope you recognize that good luck when it is presented to you and that you exploit it to the fullest extent."
He ended with a final wish.
"My last wish is that your ideas and schemes and plans are so big that everyone laughs," he said. "But that you have the last laugh. I'm rooting for you."
Olney drew upon his own professional experiences to offer words of encouragement and wisdom to Annenberg’s newest journalism and public relations alumni.
He admitted to having Googled “the future of journalism” prior to writing his speech, noting that the 17 million results he found were a direct product of the unknown prospect for the practice, especially within the context of emerging technological platforms and journalistic mediums.
“You’ve already joined the next revolution, and you're going to have to keep up with it, learn to change your thinki
While recognizing the abundance of “doom and gloom” predictions for journalism and the challenges of the current economic climate, he assured the graduates that there is a bright future ahead of them, full of possibility and opportunity.
“You don't know what’s going to happen to the future of journalism, but based on personal experience I can say with some confidence that I think it will survive," he said.
In the midst of these new challenges for journalists and public relations practitioners, Olney concluded by stressing the need to maintain the basic principles of integrity: “Public relations without integrity is propaganda and journalism without integrity is unworthy of the degrees you are about to receive… Be listeners, be skeptics, be tenacious investigators, be imaginative entrepreneurs, but most importantly be truthful, and be lifelong purveyors of information in the public interest.”
Dean Ernest J. Wilson III (pictured, above right) thanked students for teaching him and other faculty members while pursuing their education at Annenberg, noting that the information and digital revolutions have opened up a great deal of opportunities for peer-to-peer learning, changing the professor's position from “a sage on the stage to a guide on the side.”
"At the Annenberg School, communication is at the center of everything we do," Dean Wilson said. "It's also at the center of law or business or health. What better place to learn about communication than at the center of the communication industry here in Los Angeles?"
He noted the constant challenge USC Annenberg faces to stay on the cutting edge of technology to prepare graduates to face the changing journalistic landscape.
“Your challenge and your opportunity is to move forward in today’s very confused technological environment and transform the practice of journalism,” Wilson said. “It is your responsibility and obligation. If you don’t do your job well, then democracy in the United States of America and potentially around the world will suffer.”
Wilson concluded: “We have high expectations that you will go out and invent the future, reinvent the nature of journalism in the United States and around the world and in the process make democracy a richer and more vital resource for everyone.”
School of Journalism director Geneva Overholser offered closing remarks at the School of Journalism ceremony that echoed the affirmations of the previous speakers about the bright future of USC Annenberg graduates.
“You have been changed by Annenberg, you have changed Annenberg, and you will go out and change journalism," Overholser said.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger delivered the keynote address at the USC ceremony preceding USC Annenberg's commencement. USC President Steven B. Sample also gave remarks.
"You’ve made it! You are graduating from one of the world’s premier research universities," Sample said. "As we pause today on the threshold of your future, we’re here to cheer you on.
"It’s true that you’re graduating in an uncertain economy. But I would encourage you to be positive, innovative and courageous. The world needs your ideas, your enthusiasm and your talent; it also needs your kindness, your curiosity and your desire to live a full and meaningful life."
In a year of economic crisis, Schwarzenegger could not avoid a mention of the challenges facing new graduates. But he quickly reminded the crowd that USC is “one of the greatest universities in the world” in “the greatest country on Earth with the greatest opportunities.
“We’ll be back,” he said, “and we will be back stronger and more prosperous than ever before because that is what California and this country have always done.”
He added, “Never lose the spirit of Troy. You are USC Trojans, proud, strong.”
Photos
School of Communication video
