Veteran journalist will focus on honesty in political journalism
By Tony LaRoche
CNN anchor and senior political correspondent Abby Phillip, a
veteran journalist who has covered three presidential administrations, will
deliver the University of Rhode Island’s 14th annual
Christiane Amanpour Lecture on Wednesday, Nov. 10, at 5 p.m.
Abby Phillip
Phillip’s virtual talk, “Honesty and Authenticity in Political
Journalism,” will explore how journalism moves beyond “objectivity” to
understand the responsibility political journalists have to their audience and
communities.
The annual Amanpour Lecture is sponsored by URI’s Harrington School of
Communication and Media, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the
Department of Journalism. To receive a link to view the live-streamed lecture
and question-and-answer session, please register at the lecture website.
The event is free and open to the public.
“Journalism has been politicized, causing the public to distrust news organizations,” said Ammina Kothari, director of the Harrington School of Communication and Media. “Phillip’s experience with political reporting and her focus on the importance of honesty and authenticity in news reporting is a great opportunity for our students and the wider community to learn more about political journalism.”
Phillip, 32, joined CNN from The Washington Post in 2017 to cover
the administration of President Donald Trump and served as White House
correspondent through 2019. During the 2020 presidential campaign, Phillip had
a front-row seat for a historic election cycle. She moderated CNN’s Democratic
presidential debate in Iowa and co-anchored “Election Night in America,” the
network’s election-coverage show, which lasted several days before CNN became
the first to declare Joe Biden as the winner.
After the election, Phillip anchored the “CNN Special Report:
Kamala Harris: Making History,” covering the vice president’s barrier-breaking
career and the childhood experiences that strengthened her and shaped her
future. And in January, she was named anchor of CNN’s “Inside Politics Sunday,”
the hour-long, in-depth roundtable show on the week’s most important political
stories. She previously was a member of the show’s panel of experts, and had
filled in as host for CNN anchor John King ’85.
Phillip’s work has been applauded by such media outlets as Forbes,
The New York Times, InStyle and Harper’s Bazaar, which called her an “election
star in her own right” and praised her “astute commentary, cool composure, and
unfaltering glow.” The Times’ Katherine Rosman dubbed her “next-gen CNN.”
Before joining CNN, Phillip, who graduated from Harvard University
with a bachelor’s degree in government, served as a national political reporter
for The Post, covering the White House and writing on a wide range of topics
related to the Trump administration, including efforts to repeal and replace
the Affordable Care Act and the president’s overseas trip to Poland and Germany
for his first G20 meeting.
As a Post campaign reporter during the 2016 election, she
covered Hillary Clinton’s failed presidential campaign. She also covered
such national stories as the Charleston, South Carolina, church shooting and
the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. Phillip’s career includes
stints as a digital reporter on politics at ABC News and reporting on the Obama
White House, campaign finance, and lobbying for POLITICO.
Phillip is working on her first book, “The Dream Deferred:
Jesse Jackson, Black Political Power, and the Year that Changed America,”
scheduled to be released in 2022. The book will be the first major contemporary
book on the life and political legacy of Jackson, focusing on his
groundbreaking run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988.
Amanpour ’83, Hon ’95, chief international anchor of CNN’s
award-winning, flagship global affairs program, “Amanpour,” endowed the annual
speaker series in 2008. The series brings well-respected journalists to campus
each year, including Stephen Adler, president and editor-in-chief of Reuters
News; Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter C.J. Chivers of The New York Times;
author and former ABC News journalist Carole Radziwill; and, in 2020, author
and journalist Ed Yong, who has covered the COVID-19 pandemic for The Atlantic.
