On Monday, Nov. 4, acclaimed New York Times investigative journalist Mark Mazzetti visited KO and spoke to both Upper School and Middle School students and faculty. With the assembly being the day before Election Day (Nov. 5), Mr. Mazzetti discussed the uniqueness of the 2024 Election, specifically from the perspective of predictions and the role the media plays in this part of American democracy.
This was not Mr. Mazzetti’s first visit to the school, though, as he had spoken at a similar event at KO in October 2019. Since then, he has continued his work with The New York Times, winning his fourth George Polk Award for his team’s coverage of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. This project also earned him his third Pulitzer Prize, which was awarded for his coverage of the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel and the subsequent conflict in Gaza.
To kick off the assembly, Head of the Upper School Lisa Loeb and Head of the Middle School Ann Sciglimpaglia highlighted the importance of hearing from a journalist like Mr. Mazzetti. “Mazetti’s perspective can deepen our understanding of the media’s role in
democracy and how journalism can hold leaders accountable,” Mrs. Loeb said. Then, an informative video was played, which expanded on Mr. Mazzetti’s investigation into the large-scale international prisoner swap that occurred earlier in 2024.
Following this screening, seventh-grader Paxton Tarantino and senior Sasha Dausey gave an introduction for Mr. Mazzetti, highlighting his professional achievements and providing context on his areas of focus as a journalist, such as military affairs and coverage of the Pentagon. After the introduction, editor-in-chief of the KO News senior Raine Wang took the stage with Mr. Mazzetti and led a guided Q&A session.
Raine posed questions regarding the nation’s tense political environment, which prompted discussions about how media coverage of presidential candidates had an impact on the 2024 election. “It’s not that a balance has got to be 50% good coverage and 50% bad coverage,” Mr. Mazzetti said. “That’s false, and that’s not being a good journalist. Being objective – that’s a very important quality for a journalist to have.”
This was a message prominent throughout the Q&A, especially when Raine brought up being able to leave a project to maintain fairness in presenting information. “Think about covering a war or covering crimes,” Mr. Mazzetti said. “You can see things as wrong. You can report on things that you think are wrong, and your job is to expose and bring them to life. But objectivity is not that all sides are equal and there is no truth.”
Raine then asked Mr. Mazzetti about his greater accomplishments, such as his recent work in Israel. “The experience you have, the people you talk to, are going to inform your perspective on things,” he said. “It was very, very intense to discuss things like: what angles do we cover? Whose perspectives do we show? Is our coverage seen as anti-Israel or pro-Israel?”
In the case of this investigation, Mr. Mazzetti and his team knew they were on the trail of a big story. “We had tons of reporters going to Israel, covering from Washington,” he said. “We’re dealing with many of the same things, in our country and in our world, with this issue between Israel and Palestine.”
At the end of the assembly, students and faculty were invited to join Mr. Mazzetti for a conversation during lunch, offering another opportunity to connect with the successful journalist. KO is grateful for the perspective Mr. Mazzetti brought to the school, and hopes to host him as a speaker again in the future!
