CBS News Correspondent Jack Ford came to Bowdoin last Friday to speak about the connections between sports, the law and the media that he has been able to witness firsthand through his unique career as a journalist, trial attorney, author and teacher.
During his talk and an interview with the Orient, Ford brought up some of the major legal issues facing collegiate sports, such as recruiting, aid and paying student-athletes. He also discussed the impacts the media can have on the development and response to legal cases, citing his experience with the OJ Simpson trial, which he covered for almost nine months.
“With sports at the center, you have the notion of the media shining a light on it and you have the notion of the attacks on the concepts of amateur sports, and also how the media is covering the legal challenges,” Ford said in an interview with the Orient. “They’re all inextricably interwoven and that’s why we’re throwing them all into the mix, into the conversation.”
A key factor in how the media covers legal matters is the ever-increasing presence of opinion in reporting, particularly in broadcast journalism.
“Nowadays when you go on the air you almost always have to be shouting opinions, throwing bombs, and I’m sort of the old school journalism where I look at it as my role is to explain,” said Ford. “Being able to do that for the last 25 years, to me, it just is an interesting opportunity to help people understand the justice system … As long as people understand and respect the process, they might disagree with the result but they’re going to at least accept the legitimacy of the process.”
Ford refers to his career in journalism as an accidental career. He graduated from Yale with every intention of becoming a trial lawyer, attending Fordham University School of Law and then working as a prosecutor and trial attorney. He’s handled a series of notable cases, including the first death penalty trial in the Northeast.
After a live interview about the death penalty case, Ford was invited to be a legal analyst for CBS due to his comfort on camera, which Ford attributes to his experience on his college football coach’s weekly show as well as his appearances on “Jeopardy!” that helped fund his legal education. Ford continued working in television and law for a few years before transitioning to journalism full time.
“It was never a planned progression,” said Ford. “That’s why when I teach, I always say be alert for what’s around the corner because it might be something that you never anticipated … but it might be something that you decide to latch onto and it could change your life dramatically.”
Ford expressed that his time spent as a visiting undergraduate lecturer at Yale is his favorite job because it enables him to have a thoughtful exchange of ideas and perspectives with the students. Through his time in academia, Ford has been able to reflect back on his college experience.
“I was a student during the late ’60s-early ’70s when Vietnam was literally tearing the fabric of colleges apart. In the middle of all this we had the Black Panthers being tried in 1970 in New Haven and there was a sense that that could make the town and the campus explode,” said Ford. “It didn’t because I think people at Yale handled it so well and gave everybody the opportunity to talk and express themselves and do protesting, but safely.”
“So for me, college was a different time,” said Ford. “I showed up at Yale with everything I owned in a single duffel bag … and left four years later with everything I’d need for the rest of my life, and that was because of the college experience.”