Larry King Visits SMPA and Talks With Frank Sesno

As part of The School of Media and Public Affairs ongoing “Conversation series” The George Washington University had the distinct privilege to host Larry King Thursday afternoon.

In front of a crowd of about 200 students, faculty, and outside attendants in the Jack Morton Auditorium, the usual roles were reversed, as SMPA director Frank Sesno conducted the interview with Mr. King as his guest.

Mr. King described the luck he has had over the course of his career. After the death of his father, he claimed, he “lost interest in school,” leading to his choice to skip college. He did, however, have a dream to go into radio, one that would lead him to a small Miami station, WAHR. After learning the trade, young Larry Zeiger, was presented with an opportunity to host his own show.

Immediately before going on the air, the station manager informed him, Mr. King explained, that he would have to change his name, Zeiger was simply too complicated for the radio. Quickly flipping through a newspaper, an advertisement for King’s Wholesale Liquors inspired his now famous moniker.

After leaving radio to switch over to television, he described his job as host for “Miami Undercover,” moderating debates about contemporary issues, the first step on his path to global stardom as a world-renowned interviewer.

Though the next segment of the interview was mixed with personal anecdotes about his show, “Larry King Live,” many of them funny, Mr. King proceeded to speak directly to the SMPA students, giving them important lessons about journalism and life.

Perhaps one of the most important issues, one that bothers him about news anchors today, is the fact that some journalists have large egos. Instead of simply letting the guest speak, they often include themselves too much in the conversation, using the word “I,” which, as Mr. King explained, rarely shows up in his diction.

It’s important to let the interviewee speak because that’s where the knowledge comes from, a fact that allows Mr. King “to go to college each and every night” because, as he explained, “I never learned anything while I was talking.”

Mr. King also emphasized the point that it’s important to remain calm, no matter who’s sitting in front of you. They’re just people, he stated, “they put their pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else.”

Lastly, he criticized the 24-hour news cycle because it forces organizations, such as CNN, to “run with things” and air a story even if all the facts haven’t been collected yet.

Recently, he stated, his show was contacted by the Guinness Book of World Records, and was presented with the award for longest running show in television history with the same network and the same host. Thinking back about all he’s done, Larry King humbly stated that through all the fame and success, “I’m basically still a little Jewish kid from Brooklyn.”