Huffington Post Global Editorial Director Howard Fineman delivered the commencement address at Washington & Jefferson College on Saturday. In his speech, he offered advice to graduates based in his years of journalism experience.
Fineman joked about rampant social media use and told graduates to go ahead and use it -- but put it down every so often to really experience life. He told graduates that it's important to travel around and, with your phone down, see different parts of the world to learn.
"Yeah, there’s online education -- you could take a MOOC from Stanford or Harvard, that’s great," Fineman said. "But I believe the best education still involves face-to-face, person-to-person, heart-to-heart."
Fineman divulged to graduates his "Seven Cs" to being an informed citizen editor. He wanted graduates to hear these especially in light of the 2016 election, in which young people will have a large sway, to be responsible voters. The Cs include: curiosity, critical thinking, context, calm, compassion, connect and conscience.
"If you can't empathize with your fellow man, you can't understand and act upon the information you are taking in," Fineman said.