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Schar School in the News
Schar School’s Terrorism Center Joins International Conservation Union to Combat Wildlife and Conservation Crimes
January 19, 2021
Schar School Adds Intelligence Expert, Author, TV Commentor David Priess to Faculty
January 13, 2021
Schar School Partners with UiPath for Robotic Process Automation Initiative
January 11, 2021
Despite Life’s Daunting Challenges, Schar School Senior Cassidy Whitehurst Thrives at Mason
January 06, 2021

Upcoming Events
Hayden Center Event - The Assault on Intelligence: After Trump (1/26)
January 26, 2021
George Hutchinson Oral Defense of Dissertation Proposal in Public Policy (1/28)
January 28, 2021
Race and Social Justice Colloquia (2/4)
February 04, 2021
Virtual Resume Clinic (2/4)
February 04, 2021
Recent Tweets

#Biden’s inaugural address linked prosperity to civic virtue. @ScharSchool’s @StevePearlstein analyzed the address in an op-ed for the @washingtonpost. “The pluralistic ideal lies at the core of Biden’s summons to national unity.” https://t.co/UXIeUJabx4 pic.twitter.com/kMD6pffwI9

— Schar School (@ScharSchool) January 21, 2021

Will the same happen to #Trump? @ScharSchool’s @jomaburt discussed #Peru’s ex-head of state being held accountable in court with @newrepublic. Peru showed “its citizens that its system of justice is capable of prosecuting even the most powerful.” https://t.co/WC5VSpUsO3 pic.twitter.com/KYH96ASO9R

— Schar School (@ScharSchool) January 21, 2021

Under #Biden, America has rejoined the @WHO. @ScharSchool’s @SaskiaPopescu tells @Forbes: “I’m truly happy to see that the Biden-Harris administration has prioritized rejoining the WHO.” It’s a good signal to our global partners. https://t.co/J5uGBnNROW pic.twitter.com/ODyGFuLfyj

— Schar School (@ScharSchool) January 21, 2021

As #Biden takes office, he’s expected to issue many orders during his first 100 Days. @ScharSchool’s @MarkJRozellGMU writes in @thehill that this will “showcase that their elections resulted in meaningful and nearly immediate change.” https://t.co/hWWvrorMZR pic.twitter.com/WwRd1ZBnNP

— Schar School (@ScharSchool) January 21, 2021

Is #Biden’s new #Climate team the most powerful yet? It depends. @ScharSchool’s James Pfiffner tells @nytimes that “Certainly, they can be powerful, but only to the extent that their policy area is of primary importance to the president.” https://t.co/WA9tLrY1G4 pic.twitter.com/4DGua1rqZj

— Schar School (@ScharSchool) January 21, 2021

Need to rent? Prices have dropped since March, when #COVID hit us hard. @ScharSchool’s Terry Clower tells @ARLnowDOTcom that it’s definitely due to the #pandemic. “Most of the jobs that we have lost… are typically disproportionately renters.” https://t.co/tpGg8EgTfL pic.twitter.com/pBhRYKN7Yt

— Schar School (@ScharSchool) January 21, 2021

Someone go out and please tell @SenSanders that class @ScharSchool and @GeorgeMasonU don't start until Monday!
(HT @deltondaigle) pic.twitter.com/hdBtQBorir

— Schar School (@ScharSchool) January 21, 2021

#Congratulations to @AndrwLight for his appointment to lead #Biden's Office of International Affairs @ Department of Energy as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs. We look forward to seeing you in the classroom when your term is over. pic.twitter.com/pvJPopfchu

— Schar School (@ScharSchool) January 21, 2021

As #Biden takes office in a few hours, we can look back at #Trump's "economic nationalism" as described by @ScharSchool's Kenneth Reinert @thehill. "Trump’s economic nationalism was largely empty talk. Where it involved action, it was the wrong kind." https://t.co/yh5gdWW5Ow pic.twitter.com/boOlHSxWw4

— Schar School (@ScharSchool) January 20, 2021

What are the pros and cons of living in a state’s capital? Ask @ScharSchool’s Katrin Anacker. Indicators include professional opportunities, affordable housing, decent transportation, infrastructure, amenities, and weather. https://t.co/5qEgUJJJ4t pic.twitter.com/OWgkGP0KNC

— Schar School (@ScharSchool) January 19, 2021
Home » News & Events » Latest News » Washington Post reporter Amy Gardner Gives the Scoop Behind Political Coverage

Washington Post reporter Amy Gardner Gives the Scoop Behind Political Coverage

By Audrey Butler October 08, 2020

A screenshot from the Schar School of Policy and Government’s First Tuesday webinar hosted by Steven Pearlstein

What is the job of a political reporter in an age of widely spread “fake news”?

“It is our job to tell the truth,” said Amy Gardner, who covers national politics for the Washington Post. Easy, right?

Sharing and consuming news has come a long way over the course of the past few political campaigns, where bias competes with accuracy for the spotlight, and every week seems to come with a new headline scandal that had been covered up by officials in public office. As Gardner detailed in her conversation with Mason Robinson Professor of Public Policy Steven Pearlstein in the First Tuesday series of webinars, many depend on newspapers to stay up-to-date with crucial information in a time where “all norms have been shattered.”

See the recording of the conversation.

Gardner found her start working on the newspaper at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a history major, after which she progressed to reporting for small newspapers in New York and North Carolina. After a stint working in Newport News, Va., she was offered a job at the Washington Post.

“You have to be hungry and have an appetite for news,” Gardner said. “I find myself driven by this hunger to get a story, to beat the competitors, to signal to the sources that I’m the one who’s on it and who knows it best.”

As she goes into investigating a story, Gardner prioritizes honesty and clarity in her interviews. “Getting it right is not just quoting the words verbatim—that is important—but it’s also putting those words in an accurate context and a fair context,” Gardner explained, warning against taking risks at misrepresenting what someone may confide to her about.

However, representing, let alone finding, the truth in the current state of events provides its own challenge, as both media and the general public witnessed through the course of the presidential election in 2016, when Donald Trump had not seemed the likely victor the month prior to the announcement.

“The biggest challenge is to know what’s really going on,” she said. “We all thought we knew what was going on in October 2016 and we were wrong… It forced a reckoning of how we covered the race, who we had spoken to, and why we had missed this surge of disaffection and grievance and upset with the status quo that pushed Donald Trump into office.”

“You miss [information] by not being out in the state, or the country, or the battle grounds talking to people,” Gardner said, offering the importance of first-hand experiences to avoid misleading coverage.

Looking forward to the upcoming November election, Gardner warned the media to practice caution with declaring the victor on election night.

“It would be grossly irresponsible for networks to call races with that kind of uncertainty,” she explained, drawing attention to the chance of ballots taking longer to count due to increased mail-in voting during the pandemic. In terms of how the Washington Post will be reporting on the result of the election, Gardner emphasized, “We don’t need to be first, we need to be right.”

First Tuesday continues with U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D) October 13 at 9 a.m. The series, sponsored by the Honors College and the Schar School of Policy and Government, is open to the Mason community. Sign up and participate.

 

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