EOTO: What I learned from my peers

Like always, the EOTO presentations that we did in class were amazing. I always enjoy listening to and learning from my peers about different journalism heroes. This week was special, because we got to learn about modern day journalism heroes. 

Riley Manion, presented on Barbara Walters and it was so inspiring. I had definitely heard of Barbara Walters before, but I had never really given her contributions to journalism much thought before. 

Barbara Walters

Her first job was as a publicity director's assistant for an NBC show. She then went on to become the youngest producer at that station. 

In 1961, she became the first woman to host Today. 14 years later she became the first female anchor at ABC. She got let go shortly after she was hired, because the public did not like seeing a woman. 

Barbara Walters was a trailblazer in many ways. After she received criticism for nothing more than being a woman, she went on to start two shows that were massively successful: The Barbara Walters Special and The View. 

The biggest takeaway from Riley's presentation was that Barbara Walters is the epitome of a trailblazer. She is such an inspiring journalist and I learned a ton from Riley. 

Another presentation that resonated with me was by Laura Plant. She presented on Robert Capa. What stood out to me about him was the fact that he was very different than the other journalists we learned about. 

Capa was an amazing war photographer who hated war. He choose photography because he thought it was the closest he could get to journalism without it actually being journalism. 

Robert Capa

His claim to fame was his coverage on the Spanish Civil War. His photographs were spectacular and he was named the greatest war photographer in the world by Picture Post. 

Capa went on to cover several other historic events such as D Day. He lost is life in Indochina when he stepped on a landmine. 

What was so inspiring about Capa was his dedication to the field of photography and the vast amount of events he covered. 

EOTO presentations are my favorite part about this class and I am very sad that it is over for this class. I am constantly inspired by my peers and their coverage of fascinating journalists.