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John Stossel, award-winning news correspondent and co-anchor of ABC’s “20/20,” will be the featured speaker during a 20th anniversary celebration for Wichita State University’s Elliott School of Communication.
The free event, which focuses on “freedom and its enemies,” is scheduled for 7 p.m. October 12 in the Eugene M. Hughes Metropolitan Complex at 29th Street North and Oliver.
“I’m going to talk about how I learned, in my years of reporting, that people do best when they are left alone to do whatever they want, as long as it is peaceful. I argue that despite our current problems, we’re relatively prosperous because of freedom and capitalism, and that this is true even though capitalism has become something that’s fashionable to hate,” says Stossel, author of the bestselling books Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity and Give Me A Break.
Fashionable to Hate
Stossel’s views on individual freedom and free markets developed during a 30-year career that began as a consumer reporter in Portland, Oregon.
“Liberty is what made America great, yet little by little, Americans are giving up that liberty,” says Stossel, who blames a mix of unnecessary fear, unrealistic safety regulations and anti-entrepreneurial sentiment fueled by endless media hype.
Today’s entrepreneurs, often depicted in the media as robbers and polluters, are really “the heroes who make our lives better,” says Stossel. “It’s one of the things I’ve learned about, it’s one of the stupidest things…that so many people could be lifted out of the mud and misery of poverty by free markets and free minds…that we know what works and yet the leaders of half the governments of the world and the elites of America don’t see what could make such a difference.”
Freedom Run
This month, in a freedom-bid of his own, Stossel ends his 28-year career at ABC, making a move to FOX News Channel and Fox Business Network. “Toward my last years there, ABC gave me some wonderful opportunities, but not as much freedom as I would like,” says Stossel.
Stossel’s multi-year deal means he’ll be anchoring a one-hour weekly program on Fox Business Networks, and making regular appearances on the Fox News Channel, says Kevin Magee, FOX’s executive vice president.
The one-hour FOX Business program, simply titled Stossel, will debut this fall as part of its primetime line-up and will feature in-depth reports and discussions surrounding libertarian issues in the United States and abroad. Each week, Stossel will be joined by experts to explore consumer-focused topics such as free-market economies, civil liberties, the business of health care, social security and free trade.
Stossel will also make regular daytime and primetime appearances on FNC, and host a series of one-hour specials for the news network. His blog, Stossel’s Take, will be published on foxbusiness.com and foxnews.com.
Fear and Myth in America
Stossel began his career as a consumer reporter critical of business — a far cry from his current stance. After delving into business, government and consumer markets, he changed his focus and concluded that government regulation hurt consumers. He began hosting TV specials, including Stupid in America, which suggested that the government’s monopoly on education cheats children. He also hosted You Can’t Say That, which tackled touchy subjects like pregnancy discrimination laws, food irradiation, steroids and more.
One of Stossel’s televised specials, Sick in America, suggested that a free market in health care would put more control into the individual’s hands, and the topic remains at the forefront of Stossel’s reporting.
Stossel, a 1969 graduate of Princeton University, has received 19 Emmy Awards. He has been honored five times for excellence in consumer reporting by the National Press Club. Among his other awards are the George Polk Award for Outstanding Local Reporting and the George Foster Peabody Award.
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