Student Essay: Lester Holt bypasses ‘need for clicks’ with factual reporting

By Lilly Riddle, journalism major at the Pennsylvania State University

Beyond the endless scroll of social media feeds and sensational chyrons is where the work of journalists like Lester Holt resides, eschewing the need for clicks and eyeballs while drawing an audience closer through hard-earned facts and essential truths.

It is this space — somewhere in the gray between politely requesting viewers’ attention and powerfully demanding it — that I hope to inhabit as a journalist, storyteller, investigator and broadcaster of marginalized voices. Integrity is the heartstring aspiring communications professionals should pluck, and honor is the badge we should seek to wear.

As a news anchor covering global issues, Holt has continuously shown his viewers the world’s myriad complexities, languages and peoples. His reporting places readers in strangers’ shoes, facilitating cross-cultural understanding and familiarizing the unknown.

By covering conflicts, elections, trends, protests and movements happening elsewhere — the work of Ukrainian reporters taking up the mantle of conflict journalism comes to mind — we might understand those close by, operating in our own lives, affecting us. We might look to our own institutions and identify what we could be doing differently.

Integrity is central to this mission. Holt conveys complex concepts every night through the lens of objectivity; I also strive to communicate ideas in ways that resonate.

Holt said during the Page Center Awards that his program aims not to “talk down to our audience but talk to them.” This is something communications professionals should do throughout their careers: helping viewers, not alienating them. It is vital for individuals in this line of work.

As local outlets dwindle, consolidation soars, and trust in media declines, a willingness to listen on the basis of someone’s work — their integrity — becomes the axis on which the industry rotates.

With digital journalism, singular voices and independent publications — propped up by loyal subscribers reliant on their news narration, curation, and mastery of craft — can replace name-brand recognition, making integrity the most sought-after resource of the next generation of reporters. By writing about the world in this ethical was — the way of Holt, Cronkite, Bly, and many before them — I hope to make it a bit better.

This essay was a winning submission from the 2023 Page Center Awards’ Student Essay Contest. Visit the awards page for more information about past events and honorees.