I find it hard to believe a journalist with 21 years of experience wasn't aware of this. When someone reaches out to me regarding a new job opportunity, I always do some basic research.
> Contrary to what many are tweeting, Harvard has a school called the Extension School offering a Journalism Degree Programme[1]. The actual programme is called the Master of Liberal Arts, Journalism degree.
1. https://www.extension.harvard.edu/academics/graduate-degrees...
I also wonder what degree of ego played into this.
Who does Harvard contact out of the blue? If they contacted me out of the blue by email my first thought would be "Why would they contact me-- who am I? What have I accomplished that I would be on the radar that people are talking about me at Harvard to the point where I am invited to interview?"
To me, that would be phishy-- Unless I was some award winning, well-published, and/or well-credentialed journalist.
- Looking on Amazon, I see 1 book by this author: "Left, Right and Centre: The Idea of India". I also see a blank LinkedIn page, which mentions she lives in India.
- On Wikipedia, I see she has " done documentaries from Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Tibet and the United Kingdom after the train bombings." and "has been the diplomatic correspondent of NDTV 24x7, which is an English language television channel that carries news and current affairs in India, owned by New Delhi Television Ltd network.": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nidhi_Razdan
Those aren't trivial accomplishments. But I don't know that they represent the pinnacle of journalistic achievement to the degree that Harvard would reach out, out of the blue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzCcVGbO9rw - Interview with Raghuram Rajan, who was the Governor of Reserve bank of India, was chief economist of IMF, and now a professor in US
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1qS4gdutso - Interview with a maverick political consultant, kinda like Frank Luntz of India
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6lolKKm2LU - Interview with Saudia Arabia foreign minister
I am sure I can find more examples, but the point is that during a 21 year career, of which a few years as a prime time host, you build a lot of network, you get a lot of local awards, that when a US school comes fawning, it may be a small surprise, but you take it in the stride.
Raghuram Rajan has been a professor at the University of Chicago since 1997 except for a 3 year period from 2003-2006 when he served at the IMF. He was given a "public service" sabbatical from the University of Chicago to serve at the RBI.
https://www.chicagobooth.edu/-/media/faculty/raghuram-rajan/...