When MSNBC anchor and Citizen board member Ali Velshi goes to work these days, he is like most of the rest of us socially isolated by the coronavirus: at home.
A couple of times a day, he sets up his own lighting (in front and behind); does his own makeup (to cut down on the shine); chooses his own backdrop on a 65-inch TV behind him; and starts his own camera running.
Then, Velshi brings to the world some of the smartest and most thoughtful coverage of this pandemic, on shows that include interviews with politicians, epidemiologists and other government officials, as well as healthcare workers and others intimately affected by Covid-19.
Throughout, he aims to bear witness, to speak truth to power, and to advocate for a better way forward. As he told a virtual crowd of 90 people during The Citizen’s first Virtual Town Hall on Tuesday night, “The idea that a crisis causes you to be your best self is something we should take advantage of. We have been talking about the ills of our society for a long time. If we’re living through this, why don’t we use it to rebuild?”
The event, live on CrowdCast, was hosted by Citizen Editor Larry Platt, and included questions from the audience ranging from how Velshi does his show in quarantine to how journalism works in the age of Trump to whom we can trust during the pandemic.
To see what you missed, watch the video below:
