NPR All Things Considered host Ailsa Chang visited Missoula Tuesday and sat down with MTPR's Austin Amestoy during a live event to talk about her work as a radio host, her path to journalism and her thoughts on humanity's shared experience.
Before coming to public radio, Chang worked as a lawyer at a prestigious law firm – a career path she'd been on since childhood. She soon found out it wasn't for her.
"For me, practicing law in a law firm is the worst combination of being incredibly bored while being incredibly stressed."
So she set out to look for more interesting work. She found it after landing at NPR as an intern, where she booked guests for upcoming shows.
"I got to call up anybody I wanted who I thought potentially could be a great guest. And I got to ask that person, what makes you passionate about what you're passionate about? What drives you crazy? What makes you mad? Why do you do what you do? I was just, like, this is a front-row seat to the theater of the universe, that I get a ticket to."
Chang said having the opportunity to learn about diverse issues and perspectives is one of the things she loves about working as a journalist. And one of the things she's learned is that we're not so different.
"Fundamentally, what turns me on so powerfully about my job and my mission, I want to remind people when they tune in to a conversation on NPR that they're actually more alike than they are different from the people that they hear on the radio. Whether that person lives in Butte, Montana or Sacramento, California, New York City or Tehran, I want people to find that there is actually more that links us than divides us."
This is especially important to remember when the world feels hectic and news fatigue sets in, she says.
"Please don't be that person who is so over it that you're gonna turn off information, because that's part of the problem. So many people now live in their silos and only seek information that validates their world views. And if you're someone who's just like, you know what, I'm very well meaning and well informed, but I just can't deal with the news, so I'm gonna turn it off. You're part of that siloing problem too, then."
She told the audience public radio continues to be a vital service and that being funded by – and accountable to – listeners is one of the system's strengths. She says despite the recent loss of federal funding:
"We are going to stay the course and keep doing our job, keep learning about the world, keep trying to reconnect and connect with new people to remind people that we are more alike than we are different."
Anne Holser, who heads the UM Broadcast Media Center says these events help highlight public media's value.
"We continue to hear from listeners that public radio has never been more important in their lives in Montana and it's because of the work of excellent journalists like Ailsa Chang, and our local Montana Public Radio news team. We're grateful for all the friends of the station that came out to celebrate the journalism they depend on from MTPR - thank you."
Ailsa can be heard on All Things Considered weeknights at 5 p.m. on MTPR.
