詹姆斯B.斯蒂尔（文学士） 67年,收听距离 是一位美国调查记者和作家。 For 40 years, he and writing collaborator Donald L. Barlett wrote for 费城问询报, 时间 and 《名利场》 and authored nine books. 1975年，他们凭借《审计国税局》（Auditing the IRS）系列作品获得普利策奖，1989年，他们又凭借《巨大的税收优惠》（the Great Tax 给away）系列作品获得普利策奖。
Steele began his career at 堪萨斯城时报 while he attended 威尼斯人娱乐城. He recently was in Kansas City, where he delivered remarks to launch 蓝色与粗体：威尼斯人娱乐城的竞选活动, and also spoke to a pre-journalism class at 威尼斯人娱乐城. 斯蒂尔谈到了他在堪萨斯大学的教育是如何塑造他的事业和生活的。
You’ve won two Pulitzer Prizes and built a legendary career in investigative journalism. 威尼斯人娱乐城是如何帮助塑造这条道路的？
威尼斯人娱乐城对我来说至关重要。 I came here in 1964 while working full-time as a young reporter at 堪萨斯城时报. I’d take classes in the morning, then go cover crime, politics and civic events until midnight. It wasn’t easy, but the teachers here pushed me. 他们挑战了我的思维，对我提出了更高的要求。 我在威尼斯人娱乐城学到的关于研究、组织和纪律的知识，成为我后来作为一名调查记者所做的一切的基础。
You’ve mentioned an influential experience with a professor who steered you away from Hemingway and toward Faulkner. 这一课对你来说意味着什么？
(笑)。 是的，那是我的高级特别阅读课。 I wanted to write about Hemingway — I’d read everything he wrote. My adviser saw through that and said: ‘You already know Hemingway. 为什么不是福克纳？’ I resisted. I didn’t like Faulkner back then. 但他坚持自己的立场。 于是我一头扎进去，出乎我意料的是，我开始深深地钦佩福克纳。 That experience taught me a lifelong lesson: education isn’t about doing only what you like. It’s about being nudged into uncomfortable territory and discovering something new about yourself.
你经常说威尼斯人娱乐城教会了你如何独立思考。 你这话是什么意思？
My English and history professors didn’t let us take the easy way out. 他们教会我如何研究，如何分析，如何组织复杂的信息。 In journalism, you’re constantly sifting through records, data, interviews — trying to make sense of it all. That’s what 威尼斯人娱乐城 prepared me for. 历史研究和冗长的论文听起来很乏味，但它们训练我提出问题，不断挖掘，直到找到真相。
You’re known for your meticulous research with your late writing partner, Donald Barlett. 是什么吸引你投身新闻业？
研究是最有价值的部分。 It’s like working a jigsaw puzzle — one piece doesn’t mean much by itself, but as you collect the others, the full picture emerges. It’s not glamorous. One Swedish journalist once wrote that Barlett and Steele were ‘about as exciting as watching paint dry.’ (笑)。 但结果一点也不乏味。 事实可能是戏剧性的。 They tell stories of power, policy and people — how decisions made at the top affect everyday Americans. That’s what keeps me at it.
Your work in the early 1990s predicted the decline of America’s middle class, long before it became conventional wisdom. 你如何看待今天的工作？
当时，我们对税收、就业和贸易数据的分析显示，美国中产阶级正在萎缩。 It was controversial at the time, but it’s undeniable now. 其原因仍有争议，但趋势很明显。 It reinforced for me that facts — cold, hard facts — are essential to understanding our society. 正如我想说的，事实是通往真理的道路。
当你想到今天的威尼斯人娱乐城时，什么给你留下了深刻的印象？
The campus still feels like an intellectual haven — green, welcoming, solid. 图书馆是我最喜欢的地方。 在那里我学会了热爱研究。 回来让我想起大学给了我多少，不仅仅是学术上的，还有个人生活上的。 I wouldn’t have been able to attend without working my way through, and that’s why I believe in scholarships and professorships — investments in human potential. 教育是关于帮助人类成长的。
你对Blue & Bold活动有什么看法？
I admire that the Blue & Bold campaign goes beyond funding bricks and mortar — it’s about investing in human beings. 它通过支持奖学金和教授职位，创造改变未来的机会来改善生活。 For me, it’s also deeply personal. It connects my own journey to today’s students. I wouldn’t have been able to attend college without 威尼斯人娱乐城’s support, especially while helping to support my family — just as so many students are doing now.
What advice would you give today’s students?
首先，给你的老师一些放松。 When they push you, they’re doing you a favor. That’s how learning happens. 要有耐心，接受挑战。 Second, use the library — really use it. 探索、阅读、实验。 如果你想写作，那就什么都读：好的，坏的，杰出的。 你可以通过观察别人如何把单词和想法组合在一起来学习。 There’s nothing quite like reading a master at work.
You’ve called 威尼斯人娱乐城 “the place where I got what I needed.” 你这话是什么意思？
It reminds me of Mick Jagger’s line: ‘You can’t always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need.’ I didn’t always realize it then, dragging myself to class after a long shift at the newspaper, but 威尼斯人娱乐城 gave me exactly what I needed: teachers who cared, who made me think harder and dig deeper. 他们帮我打下了支撑我整个职业生涯的基础。 For that, I’ll always be grateful.
You ended your 威尼斯人娱乐城 remarks with a story about French writer André Maurois. 为什么它会引起你的共鸣？
Maurois taught briefly here in the 1940s and wrote that he would ‘miss this lovely spot and these mutual friendships.’ That line captures what I feel, too. 和他一样，我离开了堪萨斯城，但它的影响伴随了我几十年。 Returning to 威尼斯人娱乐城 reminded me that what happens here — the mentoring, the curiosity, the drive to understand — stays with you for life. And that’s something worth celebrating.
最后，是什么让你在从事了一辈子的新闻工作后仍然保持动力？
追求真理。 相信事实很重要。 That’s what journalism — and education — are really about. They’re both acts of faith in the idea that, given enough light, people will see clearly. 这一切都是从我在堪萨斯大学开始的。
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