Jon Moulden | Nov. 3, 2007
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| Photo by Hillary Bell |
| Wall Street Journal columnist Jeff Zaslow talked to students about the impact of his column on the last lecture of a professor with a terminal illness. |
None of his columns, however, has generated more interest than his September Wall Street Journal "Moving On" story about the last lecture of professor Randy Pausch.
Pausch, a 46-year-old Carnegie Mellon University computer science professor and father of three young children, has pancreatic cancer and is not expected to live more than four months.
Zaslow, who works out of the Wall Street Journal’s Detroit bureau, had interviewed Pausch by phone before his last lecture.
"After talking to him, I had to be there to see and hear it for myself," said Zaslow, who gave J110 Foundations of Journalism and Mass Communications students a behind-the-scenes look at the story Thursday. The $900 Detroit-to-Pittsburgh plane ticket may have been the best investment the newspaper has made in a long time, Zaslow said.
His story ran in both print and online versions, and the Journal also ran a four-minute video clip on the Web site in which Pausch shows slides of the cancerous cells, photos of his three preschool-age children and does one-handed pushups to display his continued strength and perseverance.
Within three days of his column’s publication, Pausch’s lecture had appeared on more than 57,000 Web sites. ABC News named him its "Person of the Week," Diane Sawyer interviewed him, and he received calls from Steve Jobs, Oprah, Katie Couric, Ellen Degeneres and others. Zaslow told students that this is just one example of the powerful influence journalists have on the world.
Zaslow, whose daughter, Jordan, is an IU freshman, challenged students to look for ways to make an emotional connection with their audiences.
At the same time he urged students to be considerate of their readers.
As the editor of his college newspaper at Carnegie Mellon, Zaslow once wrote about the body of a student discovered when passersby smelled the odor of decay coming from his dorm room. Zaslow received a call from the grieving father, who asked Zaslow why he had to go into such graphic detail, why that was necessary.
"From that point on, I always try to think about the person who may be reading my column," Zaslow said.
Zaslow’s favorite columns move people to action. He once wrote about a Chicago woman who couldn’t afford to buy her children school supplies, so she donated blood and used the money to buy them. His column prompted readers to donate enough school supplies to meet the needs of 5,000 children from low-income homes in the Chicago area.
With so many blogs and other online publications, Zaslow said it’s easier than ever for students to publish their stories.
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| Photo by Hillary Bell |
| Zaslow learned early that he wanted to tell people’s stories, but with consideration. "I always try to think about the person who may be reading my column." |
From the very beginning of the presentation, students saw that Zaslow is a true believer in the power of humor. He read clips from some of his most popular articles to the journalism class, some of which brought laughter.
After a stint with the Wall Street Journal in the 1980s, Zaslow became an advice columnist for the Chicago Sun Times, replacing Anne Landers. Zaslow told the class that he only jokingly applied for the job, but that the paper apparently liked his humor and sarcasm enough to hire him to replace the world famous advice columnist.
Zaslow also fondly remembers his time at USA Weekend when he interviewed celebrities such as Ray Charles, Christopher Reeve and George W. Bush while he was the governor of Texas.
Sherry Margolis of Fox TV in Detroit also spoke to the J110 class Thursday by teleconference from her home in Detroit. Like Zaslow, she talked about keeping humanity in reporting and considering the ramifications of the stories news organizations present.
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