The answer is, 'be interesting'

“There's a great appetite for smart television. Every day I get up and there are interesting stories I want to do.” – Charlie Rose

Born on this day in 1944, American television talk show host and journalist Charlie Rose grew up in a small town in North Carolina, went to Duke University and earned a law degree before getting started in journalism part time by working for the BBC.

Soon he found that it was his true calling and he continued moving up in the industry.  Since 1993, his show, Charlie Rose, has been distributed nationally by PBS. He has also co-anchored CBS This Morning since 2012 and substitutes for the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley when Pelley is off or on assignment.

  “I'm not an advocacy journalist - that's not what I do,” he said. “My role in journalism is to be able to engage the most interesting people with the best ideas.“

Rose said journalists today need to be interesting but also on target with their interviewing.  “The question,” he pointed out, “is just as important as the answer.”  And, he firmly believes that if reporting and interviewing is done right, the audience will stay involved, even Millenials who have been accused of “tuning out.”

“The younger generation watches what's interesting, not whether it's presented by someone who is as old as I am, or someone who is 21. It's the material. If I did a series of conversations on things most interesting to Millennials, they would respond to it … and I do.”

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