Curtis had the privileged opportunity to get involved with politics and meet political debater, Tom Wrobleski. Wrobleski is the senior opinion writer for the Staten Island Advance and is a journalist with Muck Rack.

The students in the broadcasting class were able to ask Wrobleski questions about his personal life and his experience as a journalist. Wrobleski was always curious about politics, but never had any true political interest until the attended a political debate at a college. He was immediately drawn in. He began as a police reporter and did that for about 25 years and later become a political reporter. He reported on city, state, and federal politics.One question that was brought up during the discussion was how to be successful in newspaper. “Anyone could post a picture or a video and be called a journalist, but a true journalist is someone who can write. If you can write then you are gold,” said Wrobleski.

  Other students questioned if the field of journalism is anything but politics. “Journalism is a mixture of politics, but politics are important to know because you should know what is going on in the government and the state that you live in,” said Wrobleski.  He talked about how he was interested in politics and political debates. “Watching a political debate just sparks something in me and it is like a flame. No one can put the flame out until I have all the details.’’

He also told the students that being a part of a newspaper might be difficult because of the decline in physical papers. He suggested students try anyway.

Wrobleski added that if you are passionate, get involved in everything and offer your services to anyone.

One of the final questions that students had was, how was President Donald Trump affecting the journalists in the world with his constant accusations of fake news? “I think that President Donald Trump is affecting the world of journalists. The way he talks about journalists is demonizing and it is hurtful to our careers… No one should say that ALL journalists are fake. We risk our lives to get the story and we try to report the news as best as we can so, don’t compare other journalists to Fox News or CNN,’’ Wrobleski stated.