“What’s the title of this?” Callie Crossley, the CIC Visiting Fellow, asked participants during her virtual keynote address. “Telling the whole story.”
Telling the whole story is what Crossley, an award-winning media commentator and public speaker, is all about. She understands some conversations are challenging — and that’s precisely why we should have them.
During a virtual presentation with Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College students, faculty and staff, Crossley shared her experiences in journalism in an open discussion. Participants were encouraged to ask questions throughout the event. Terry Bowe, associate vice president of human resources, served as moderator for the conversation and wanted to have a “robust dialogue.”
Topics Crossley and participants covered included race and gender inequalities, education and the effects of media. Media, she said, “is a huge umbrella.” It can range from the Washington Post to wrestling to the Real Housewives. Journalism is a small subset of that broad collection of media. She used TMZ as an example — that media outlet does not use a code of ethics and might pay off reporters or photographers. Crossley views the world from a lens of an ethical journalist, who only goes by the facts.
“You don’t know the story unless you know all the pieces of it,” said Callie Crossley.
As she describes it, the challenge is that not everyone seeks factual sources. “Media has a huge impact on how people see things,” she explained. That includes social media, which can have misinformation. When asked how to combat the missteps of the internet, Crossley said it is up to the consumer to be informed and have “healthy skepticism” when it comes to the credibility of a piece. “You have to do some work,” she said about finding accurate sources.
The discussion focused heavily on making sure all the voices are at the table. Although Crossley recognizes that not everyone will come to the table, she emphasizes that “everyone should feel heard” and “nobody should speak for anyone else.” When asked how to get those who are less comfortable speaking up, she said that people are drawn to the table when they have something to gain or lose. Creating a conversation with points of interest and having the ability to help shape the vision in the future may encourage more to participate.
Crossley consistently went back to her point of telling the whole story — including finding historical sources that may fill in gaps from a certain point of view.
One example of this was the 911 museum in New York City. When the memorial was constructed, it was argued the names of the hijackers of the planes that crashed into the twin towers should not be on display for respect to those who died. Ultimately, the hijacker’s names are displayed — and Crossley agrees. Without those names, she said, the story would be incomplete. “You don’t know the story unless you know all the pieces of it,” she reiterated.
Aimee Janssen-Robinson, Ph.D., M. Ed., associate vice president for student affairs, thanked Crossley for her insight and said she agrees we must “get comfortable with being uncomfortable.”
Crossley currently hosts “Under the Radar with Callie Crossley” in Boston. She appears weekly on a show where she examples local and national media coverage. Crossley earned an Oscar nomination, a national Emmy and was considered for the Pulitzer Prize of broadcast journalism. She has held two Harvard Fellowships. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and holds two honorary degrees — a Doctor of Arts degree from Pine Manor College and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Cambridge College.