Monday, October 14, 2013

Professional Speaker Assignment: Art Rascon (Extra Credit #3)


An Emmy Award winning reporter spoke on the importance of utilizing the gospel of Jesus Christ in a communications career.

Art Rascon, news anchor in Houston for the American Broadcasting Company, delivered a lecture Thursday at BYU after receiving the 2013 Alumni Achievement Award from the university’s College of Fine Arts and Communications.

He told his audience that his faith in God as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has helped him in his career as a journalist.

“God can make more of you than you can ever make of yourself,” Rascon said. “You must always be open to the direction of the Spirit.”

Rascon has covered conflicts for 28 years. He has reported major events such as Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami in Indonesia, the Virginia Tech shootings and the war in the Middle East. During his lecture, he gave several examples of instances during his career when he and his team were protected by following promptings from the Holy Ghost.

Rascon said he believes that it is also the responsibility of communications professionals to help others. “We live in a world that is filled with speculation, with problems and with confusion,” Rascon said. He emphasized that as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ, everything he does in disseminating information should be directly related to the gospel.

“Communications has the greatest and most profound effect on people throughout the world,” Rascon said. “What are we doing in our lives to ensure that…it will help influence people for good and not for evil?” 

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