Scott Pelley Speaks at Clemson University

CBS Evening News Anchor Scott Pelley spoke at the Strom Thurmond Institute at Clemson University on Sunday to more than 300 students, faculty and guests. His talk, ‘This Moment in America— A Reporter’s View’, detailed his recent experiences on 60 Minutes and the CBS Evening News as well as interviews with prominent leaders such as Barack Obama, George Bush and Ben Bernanke.

Pelley was hired in May for the CBS Evening News and previously worked for 60 Minutes for years. Because he has only been at CBS for a few months, he concentrated on his time at 60 Minutes.  He detailed his enjoyment of working for the show, explaining that his job was to find the most fascinating stories and interesting people, and report on them— a journalist’s dream, in his opinion.

The talk was a compilation of memorable interviews and moments in his time as an anchorman. Pelley is an expert public speaker and flowed to and from topics with ease, aided by interview videos and a PowerPoint presentation.

Two of his most stirring stories involved both the September 11^th attacks and the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion. Pelley was one of the first reporters on the scene after the attacks and described the terror of seeing the destruction of the towers in close view. The tone of his speech and the somber, minimalistic PowerPoint slide accompanying the section showed how the experience deeply affected him.

For a 60 Minutes piece Pelley interviewed Mike Williams, the chief electronics engineer of the Deepwater Horizon who escaped the burning rig by jumping 90 feet from the rig into water. Parts of the interview shown to the audience displayed Williams’ emotion and the tragedy of the event. However, when the episode was broadcasted it at the time yielded information about the rig and explosion not provided by the company. This specific 60 Minutes piece became critical to the rig explosion aftermath; it was mentioned many times in Congress.

There was humor in Pelley’s talk as well, mainly from an interview with former President George Bush. Pelley interviewed Bush on his jet; after finishing the interview the president went to change clothes. Pelley was surprised to see the President return, shirtless, apparently needing to tell him something not captured in the interview. “This is the kind of guy President Bush is. He’s very casual around people,” Pelley explained to the audience. “I looked him straight in the eye, and I am not looking down.”

In closing, Pelley left the audience with a sometimes little thought-of sentiment: “Remember that every broadcast, every single day at CBS News, somebody risked their life to bring the news to you.” The anchorman’s talk was powerful, interesting and conveyed the sense that although Pelley is high-ranking and famed, he is committed to the sanctity of fair journalism and the advancement of it through the years.