Posted on 11/05/2003 3:38:56 AM PST by PJ-Comix
She's danced on tables until 3 a.m. with R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, conducted the first interview with President Clinton after the infamous Dick Morris debacle and commentated at galas from the MTV Video Awards to an inaugural ball.
Having reached her loftiest goals, MTV News anchor Tabitha Soren has just one question.
"I'm only 30. Now what do I do?"
To help figure out just what to tackle next, Soren has taken a one-year respite from MTV to participate in Stanford's Knight Fellowship Program for journalists. As a fellow, Soren takes classes - minus the responsibilities of homework, tests and grades - in order to help her grow as a journalist.
In between her busy class schedule, Soren found time last month for a honeymoon with her new husband - best-selling author and journalist Michael Lewis - whom she met on the campaign trail.
As she flirtatiously waved good-bye to Lewis at the door of the Communication Department's lounge, flung her backpack to the ground and curled up on the large couch to chat, it was clear Soren fits in at Stanford just fine.
Of Prof. John Taylor's Economics 1 class, Soren said, "It's incessant. It's bloody awful."
"Damned if I'm going to my discussion group at 7:30 on Thursday nights," she added. "I cut myself some slack in those areas."
English classes, a business school class, photography and yoga round out her schedule, although she finds time for extracurriculars such as swimming and tanning at deGuerre pool.
Soren lived in Greenwich Village as an undergraduate while attending New York University and was part of the "punk rock, downtown New York scene." Not surprisingly, Stanford feels entirely new.
"I don't feel like I've gone back to school because it's so different. . It's a joy," Soren said. "I feel like I'm at a country club."
In her own college days, Soren majored in journalism and politics and took advantage of internship opportunities, working at CNN, MTV, ABC and NBC, as well as a cable access station.
Her first job out of college was covering the Vermont state government for an ABC affiliate.
"I was bored out of my mind," she said.
She opted to return to New York and landed a spot on MTV News, substituting for Kurt Loder. She interviewed then-presidential candidate Clinton in 1991 and earned a permanent spot as anchor.
She has since covered two presidential elections and worked with the MTV Choose or Lose campaign, which encourages young people to vote. Motivating groups which tend to vote in low numbers - such as young people, women and the homeless - is important for the U.S. democracy to work, according to Soren.
"If we're going to go around forcing democracy on the rest of the world, we might as well make an attempt at having a real one here," she said.
Though MTV may not seem the likeliest place to turn to stay abreast of current events, Soren said MTV News is an essential part of the network.
"Videos get boring," Soren said. "Young people are interested in more than just music. You get their attention with the entertainment, but then you can talk about the vote on Capitol Hill or the anxieties of getting pregnant. You might as well give them something good along with the music."
Soren also interacts with celebrities on a regular basis as part of her work at MTV, although meeting stars isn't as fun as it may seem to the audiences at home, she said.
"Celebrities are rarely memorable people. They get boring because they only know how to talk about themselves," she noted.
With all the apparent excitement of meeting celebrities and politicians on a regular basis, some may wonder just why Soren would give it up for a year to come to the Farm.
"The Knight Fellowship Program is an incredibly unique situation," Soren said. "It allows journalists to pursue for a year knowledge for the sake of knowledge. So often, journalists are all assigned the same stories. You all get the same information from the same people. This gives you different reference points."
Though she said MTV is a "luxurious situation," she might like to make documentaries and pursue other goals in the future.
"I just want to be inspired to do it again," Soren said. "I think a year here will open my mind to what's available."
Correction: Knight Fellow Tabitha Soren's characterization of Economics 1 as "incessant" and "bloody awful" was not intended to apply to the whole class, only to the homework.
Any Freepers live in the Berkley area? If so, we could prepare a list of questions for Tabitha. The interview should be taped and transcribed for our entertainment. It shouldn't be hard to get her to do an interview since she is doing mostly nothing nowadays.
Why? She removed herself from the limelight so as to avoid the embarrassment of exposing her own stupidity.
I'm pretty sure he's an Episcopalian bishop now.
(Actually he's apparently a contributing editor for Rolling Stone and a freelance witer living in NYC according to MTV.)
She got banned :o)
Y'gotta credit he for marrying a talented man. He's an excellent writer. (Whatever their politics at this point, I'm not sure).
Actually that was from an interview with the Bent One. Bill Clinton [responding to a question about his favorite musicians]: "... and another of my favorites is Thelonious Monk ..."
Tabitha Soren: "Mr. Clinton, who is the loneliest monk? Can you tell us more about him?"
-- MTV's Rock the Vote, 1992
I think he died of self-righteous sanctimony.
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