As Obama pointed out at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, journalism is a “dogged pursuit”— a job that aims to disclose transparent information to the public. It’s also a business: a business that, as Obama said, at times “incentivizes speed over depth, and when controversy and conflict are what most immediately attract readers and viewers.”

Similarly, Chris Isham, Kim Ghattas, and Joan Vennochi all place high value on the part journalism plays in society. Journalism has the potential to shape the way people think and to deliberately grab people’s attention by exposing a scandal while keeping the story concise, yet profound.

On April 27th, Groton School invited the three acclaimed journalists to the Circle for a Question and Answer session concerning the 2016 Presidential Election.

Chris Isham ’71, CBS News Washington Bureau chief and 2015 Prize Day speaker, noted the campaigns of each individual candidate. Isham noted that Trump’s campaign, with its broad promise to “Make America Great Again,” most likely appeals to a great number of American people in response to the country’s economic decline.

The speakers further noted that political awareness of the American and even global audience has grown significantly. Roughly 13 million viewers tuned in to this year’s February Republican Debate hosted by CBS. One of the downsides to the nontraditional media-hyped campaigns is the fact that barely any of these debates are serving their rightful purpose: to allow voters to examine what policies, party dynamics, which leader the voter wants to see pilot this country. Instead, all we get is talk of “big hands” and “low-energy Jeb.”

In response to Zizi Kendall’s ’17 question about America’s conception of Democratic party frontrunner Hillary Clinton, bestselling author Kim Ghattas paid attention to Hillary Clinton’s long political career. Despite her strong momentum as a candidate, her image as a politician was surely tainted after several alleged scandals.

However, Ghattas commented on how she does well outside of the frame of politics when she’s not in the spotlight. “Judging by record, she’s qualified for sure,” Ghattas remarked. The discussion then proceeded to the Headmaster’s House, where Eric Yang ’18 posed a noteworthy question: how is nontraditional media affecting this year’s presidential campaigns in particular?

Joan Vennochi, The Boston Globe columnist and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Local Investigative Specialized Journalism, responded that the greatest change that nontraditional forms of media offer is that candidates provide their own platforms of communication.

In terms of reliability, sites like Buzzfeed, Twitter, and Facebook ultimately make it more difficult for people to easily find proper sources of news. For the sake of convenience, people are inclined to rely on social media to find updates on the campaign. Candidates are now required to move into the 21st century.

The recent Circle Talk was refreshing, which allowed for effective discussion throughout the evening. Who will be standing at that podium at next year’s Correspondents’ Dinner?