[Elizabeth Brackett lecture]

A talk from Elizabeth Brackett detailing her career trajectory so far, and her research for her book on Rod Blagojevich.

0:00Copy video clip URL Elizabeth Brackett walks up to the podium to begin her speech.

0:21Copy video clip URL Brackett talks about her career before broadcasting. She was originally involved in independent politics and ran for various positions in the Chicago area. “I finally decided after that that I’d like a job that didn’t end on election day.”

1:47Copy video clip URL She goes into how she made the switch to broadcasting. She doggedly pursued a job with station 2 until, finally, she convinced the station to let her work on a piece about “Charismatic Catholics”.

3:43Copy video clip URL Brackett briefly talks about her jobs with other stations following station 2, ending with her being let go from WLS, channel 7. This was a trend in news stations firing female reporters.

5:04Copy video clip URL Her next career move was to contact Robin MacNeil, whose show, the MacNeil/Lehrer Report, was expanding to an hour slot. She sought out the opportunity to work on the show, and this was where her career in broadcasting really began. She shares her appreciation and satisfaction in landing the job.

6:40Copy video clip URL She talks about her favorite stories that she’s worked on. The first is a story about a mudslide in Puerto Rico.

10:36Copy video clip URL Details about a story shot in Germany involving an unexpectedly pricey car/phone rental.

15:58Copy video clip URL The third story she shares is about her history of diving, and the 25th anniversary of title nine.

21:06Copy video clip URL She talks about an offer she received to write a book on Rod Blagojevich in only 6 weeks, and gives some information on Blagojevich. “He ran the state of Illinois out of his livingroom.”

29:33Copy video clip URL End