For Winter Family Weekend, two veteran news professionals, our very own Avery Miller ’86 P’19, CBS News Producer, and CBS News Anchor Nancy Cordes were interviewed by the two student editors of Madeira’s newspaper, The Spectator, examining topics such as guarding against media bias and the presence of AI-generated content and how they affect the news.
One of the students, Minna Xu ’25 reflected on the experience, stating, “The biggest takeaway for me was realizing the importance of approaching news with a critical mindset, especially today, where disinformation, social media manipulation, and AI-generated content are everywhere. It’s not enough to just read a headline or watch a short TikTok video; we need to dig deeper, cross-reference multiple sources, and think carefully before forming opinions. It's scary to think about how easily we can be misinformed, but it was also empowering to learn from Ms. Cordes and Ms. Miller that we can take steps to become more responsible and informed.”
The guests shared their perspectives on the challenges of being in the media during the fast-paced, technologically evolving, and emotionally charged landscape our country currently faces. Cordes shared, “It’s our responsibility to not go for easy, explosive words that get lots of clicks, but to be informational. News is dramatic enough; you don’t need me to stoke the flames.” To keep programming as straightforward and unbiased as possible, newsrooms often aim to bring on guests with multiple perspectives on an issue and rely on the expertise of the “confirmed unit,” whose job it is to fact check stories, assess the potential presence of AI-generated content, and detect bias.
As a producer, Miller said she juggles every day “the art of the possible,” that push/pull between what would be ideal to tell the story versus what is realistic (in a minute and 30 second story with facts rolling in right before airtime!). She noted that, as a producer, her objective is to “leave a sound bite as is and let the viewer decide.” In addition to the importance of critical thinking, Miller acknowledged Madeira’s role in developing another vital tool and urged current students to soak in this lifelong skill: “Writing is a gift and will serve you well all your life."
The panelists encouraged everyone to move beyond headlines and sound bites in order to truly understand an issue. “If you only read two sentences of a story, even if those are accurate, you are missing the larger context,” noted Cordes. Both speakers emphasized the importance of careful word choice and context in a world of clipped sound bites that may be taken out of context. This mentality stood out to Minna, who shared, “An insight that stood out to me was to be open-minded and look beyond the surface. Both Cordes and Miller’s personal stories of individuals they’ve interacted with made me realize how meaningful it is to seek out the real stories and human experiences behind the headlines.”
The magnitude of sharing such human stories was not lost on our guest speakers. “We have the privileged position of informing the nation,” Cordes acknowledged. “Having trusted news outlets is more important than ever as we each need to figure out what we believe, what we want to fight for.” The anchor sees her role in the media to help bridge different viewpoints on an issue to help get to common ground.
She summed up this deep responsibility, “Journalism is a rough draft of history.”
We’re grateful to our guests for joining us for our Civil Discourse speaker series. Their insights are invaluable as we continue to develop skills to thoughtfully engage across a variety of viewpoints.
Minna described the value of this mindset perfectly, concluding, “The panel reminded me that, when engaging with individuals with different political views during interviews and on a day-to-day basis, we should listen to understand and not listen to disagree.”
.jpg&command_2=resize&height_2=85 "Madeira Student Gains Valuable Experience in Minority Whip’s Office on Capitol Hill")
