Richard Wolf, a Supreme Court correspondent for the USA Today was the guest speaker at the second “AHS Meets the Press” of the school year. The event held for student journalists took place on Nov. 30 in Clausen Hall.

Wolf has reported extensively on all three branches of government including the White House, Congress and currently, the Supreme Court.

“I enjoyed hearing about his [Wolf’s] experiences because I learned about what it takes to report on the different branches of government and about the justices and politicians that he’s met,” sophomore Khadija Ahmed said.

Wolf shared experiences from the time he gained interest in journalism during college to his adventures covering the three branches of government.

“I got into journalism originally by becoming fascinated with the [Bob] Woodward and [Carl] Bernstein years in the early 1970s when those two reporters were investigating the Watergate break-in of 1972,” Wolf said.

Woodward and Bernstein, two reporters from the Washington Post covered and investigated the Watergate scandal during the 1970s. Their work eventually led to the resignation of of the 37th President of the United States, Richard Nixon.

“Being in college at the time and seeing the impact that journalists could have was something I wanted to emulate,” Wolf said. “English, writing, government and public policy were always my interests so journalism was the obvious choice for me.”

Wolf started covering government with Congress during the 1980s and 1990s. He discussed his experiences covering both the House of Representatives and the Senate including visiting and reporting on congressional districts and sitting down for interviews with both Representatives and Senators.

Wolf notably covered the Republican Revolution of 1994 where the GOP successfully netted a gain of 54 seats in the House under the leadership of House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

“I honestly had the most fun covering Congress during the 1980s and 90s,” Wolf said. “They were getting more done back then they are now because things were not as partisan and there was always a group of moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans that wanted to pass legislation.”

Along with covering Congress, Wolf has covered multiple White House administrations including those of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. He has sat down for interviews with a number of Presidents and covered daily White House operations.

“Covering the White House is different because it’s best for someone who wants maximum exposure as a journalist,” Wolf said. “You’re going be on the front page more and you’re going to travel more covering the White House, but it’s also very frustrating because of the one-sided spin.”

Throughout his career as a journalist, Wolf has always been a news writer as opposed to an editorials or opinion writer. As a news writer, journalists cover the news from a straight-on point of view rather than inputting bias or perspective.

“I found it really eye-opening and important how the speaker values the facts side of the news rather than the opinion side,” senior Elias Moura said.

Wolf is currently a Supreme Court correspondent for the USA Today. He has sat down with various Supreme Court Justices and covered both nomination and confirmation processes. Wolf also recently reported on the confirmation of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh.

“I love covering the Supreme Court at this stage in my career because I can read a little more and race after politicians less,” Wolf said.

During his presentation, Wolf passed out hard copy issues of the USA Today for the audience to interact with and read.

“AHS Meets the Press” will take place each quarter in Clausen Hall as local journalists will visit AHS as they share their journalistic and life experiences with students.

“I like AHS Meets the Press because it helps me understand more about renowned journalists’ beginnings and I get know more about the behind the scenes aspects of the job,” Ahmed said.