Journalism students from the school were offered the opportunity to attend a Norfolk Forum event at the Chrysler Hall this week to see one of its most famous and revered guest speakers, former White House correspondent, managing editor of the NBC Nightly News, and NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw.

Brokaw has not only won almost every award offered to journalists, but was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014. Furthermore, he has stepped up to cover many of America’s most historical events and discuss our most dividing issues in a public forum.

According to thenorfolkforum.org/current-speakers/#tom-brokaw, Brokaw began his journalism career in 1966 and has since covered nearly every major country/world issue since the rise of the 60s counter culture and the assassination of Bobby Kennedy 1968. He was front and center through the Watergate scandal in 1973, witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1982 and held an interview with former Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Brokaw even postponed his retirement in order to cover the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

On Tuesday evening, Brokaw began with a “shout-out” to the school’s Falcon Press newspaper staff for attending the event before giving an introductory speech about his life as a journalist, then discussed some of the most current political issues.  According to Brokaw, the country is more polarized than ever before: racially, politically, and culturally.

The event ended with a Q&A style interview.

Brokaw’s final message to the audience- in order to move progressively forward, all Americans must come together and find common ground.