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NBC Nightly News managing editor and anchor Lester Holt visited the University of Kansas on Thursday to accept the William Allen White National Citation.
The citation recognizes one individual annually for outstanding journalistic service.
While on campus, Holt was surrounded by aspiring journalists as he took a tour of KU's William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
He sat down with a broadcast student for an interview.
"It’s definitely to this point, the biggest thing I’ve ever done as a journalist," Ryn Drummond, a junior in the journalism school who interviewed Holt, said. "It makes me proud to be in the work I do.”
Holt said he believes the future of journalism is bright.
"We have a lot of smart people, a lot of inspired people who understand the role in a free society of a free and independent press," he said.
Holt said KU is shaping the next generation of journalists "at a moment of great challenge in our profession.”
Drummond is ready to take on the responsibility.
“I love making a difference," she said. "I think that’s our biggest job as journalists is to make a difference, and I think seeing people like Lester Holt do that has really inspired me.”
Holt had a message for students who may soon be entering the field of journalism.
"The advice he was giving us about when a door opens, to go through it and take whatever the world is throwing at you," Drummond said. "You may never know the opportunities you may get.”
It's advice Holt says he was given early in his career.
“I never quite understood what that meant until lo and behold, doors started to open, leading me to this point in my life," he said.
It's a point Holt says he reached with the mentorship of journalists who came before him. Now, he's passing on that knowledge to the next generation.
Holt said conversations around trust and ethics are important ones to have.
“Trust is key to our integrity," Holt said. "We can’t lose that trust, so I think it’s an important conversation that we should be having up until you graduate or move on into the business.”
The visit follows Holt's February announcement about his departure from NBC Nightly News after 10 years on the weekday edition's anchor desk. He said he will stay on the anchor desk until sometime around the beginning of summer.
“Now, I’m kind of in that reflective mode, ‘You did it,’ but I’m still not done," Holt said.
In the next chapter of his career, Holt will be expanding his role with Dateline NBC, which he has anchored since 2011.
“I wanted to exercise what I call long-form muscles, long-form journalism, and in this case, I’m talking about Dateline," he said.
Holt said he's excited to dive into topics he "cares deeply about." The storytelling process can take months.
“That really kind of excited me, to be able to pull back a little bit from the daily grind, but take up this new challenge," he said.
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