Ed Schultz in Mauritania

I just wanted to share one more example of the fun things work I did during my second week in Mauritania. Something you may not have expected: Ed Schultz factored into my job.

A free press is a relatively new thing in Mauritania; the government only loosened the strings about a year or so ago. But the issue now is apparently a widespread lack of ethics. Journalism hasn’t really been professionalized, and credibility is an issue. So it was decided that I, as a former “journalist”, would lead a discussion about a free press and the responsibilities that come with it.

I thought I’d beef up my presentation a bit by finding a segment I wrote while working on “The Ed Show”. Spice things up a bit and reduce the amount of time I would be required to talk. 🙂 So I went on a hunt to find a good segment. Immediately, a problem presented itself.

I quickly realized many of my segments were not appropriate for public diplomacy purposes. (Turns out, “Psychotalk” isn’t what you’d call “diplomatic”. Try to contain your shock.) My research also allowed me to relive this shining moment in my career. when you google “Kelli Long” and “Ed Schultz”, that’s the first result. My MSNBC legacy boils down to sparkly green nail polish. Boys and girls, if you dream big, you too can be on the internet painting a TV host’s fingernails.

But back to the point. I ended up finding a useable segment I produced on “Occupy Oakland”. Ed interviewed a protester who was caught in the line of fire when the police violently disrupted the protest. It was pretty much straight reporting followed by the interview.

The discussion took place at the local university and went quite well. I started with a spiel about freedom of the press (the gist being – it’s awesome), then explained what my job used to be and showed the clip. I talked a little bit more about the “Occupy” thing in general and then opened the floor to discussion. Everyone was super enthusiastic and they made really smart points. We talked for about an hour and could have gone on much longer. A number of folks in the group were aspiring journalists, and we talked about everything from peaceful protests to writing techniques. They even brought up the issue of ethics and responsibility in journalism all on their own, asking about how news outlets establish credibility. (Before you jump to conclusions about my response, I did not take a dig at Fox News. I’m a diplomat now, I don’t do that anymore. :-P)  So, all in all, a productive day!

Oh also – in case anyone was worried that I would miss the Ed Schultz radio show during my time overseas, fear not. It is regularly played on the radio part of AFN. There is no escape.

One last thing – Ed is back on MSNBC starting Saturday evening, check  your local listings…many of my friends still work for the show, so you should watch!