Nick Clooney. He has made a lifelong career out of pursuing his ideals, which began at age 16, delivering the news on air at WFTM, a Maysville, Kentucky radio station. Now, you can find him mobilizing efforts to end violence in Darfur, addressing the United Nations Security Council, and hosting the politically conscious and socially relevant “Moments that Changed Us” on AmericanLife TV.

His varied career in journalism reflects his many passions. He has worked as a reporter, anchor, managing editor, and news director in Cincinnati, Salt Lake City, Buffalo, and Los Angeles. For many years he filed a thrice-weekly column for The Cincinnati Post and The Kentucky Post, writing about current events, politics, travel, American history, and the arts. His columns and op-ed pieces have appeared in publications across the country, including the Los Angeles Times and the Salt Lake Tribune.

Always eschewing sensationalism to pursue a hard news focus, he strives to, above all, engage and inform. For five years he was a host and writer on AMC, and, on their behalf, made numerous appearances across the nation supporting film preservation. He even had his own talk-variety show and a daily morning radio show in Cincinnati, served as host of “The Money Maze,” a daily network game show on ABC-TV, and guest-hosted programs in New York City, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and Indianapolis. In 2004, he ran on the democratic ticket for a seat in the United States House of Representatives, representing Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District. He has also authored three books, one dedicated to film and American culture.

The Washington Review of Journalism named him one of the “best in the business of television news.” He holds an honorary doctorate of fine arts from Northern Kentucky University, the President’s Medal from Thomas More College, the Kentucky Broadcaster’s Association Distinguished Kentuckian Award, a regional EMMY, and three national EMMY award nominations. A prolific newsman, he has received nearly 300 other awards and honors celebrating his work. This history of consummate professionalism also garnered him a home in the Cincinnati Journalism Hall of Fame, the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame, and the Ohio Television Hall of Fame.

Journalist. Author. TV personality. Activist. He is all of these things, but you can also call him a speaker, a master of ceremonies, moderator, and panelist, given that he has appeared at over 3,000 events and has delivered the commencement address at more than 30 high schools, colleges, and universities.

And there is also his family, extraordinary in their own right. His wife Nina – an inventor, writer, television host, community leader. His daughter Ada, also a writer, is the mother of his grandchildren, Nick and Allison, while his son has recently been named a United Nations Messenger of Peace. And it is from this youngest child, George, that comes perhaps the most enduring expression of his father’s expert legacy: “I am the son of a newsman,” he says, “so the job of messenger comes with the responsibility to deal with facts, not to tell people what they want to hear, but to tell them what the truth is, unfiltered.”

This is Nick Clooney.

 SPEECH TOPICS:

Darfur:  The First Genocide of the 21^st Century

Movies that Changed Us

America’s Celebrity Culture

Moments that Changed Us

 A Newsman’s Journey