Josh Earnest, former White House press secretary under then-president Barack Obama, encouraged UC Berkeley students to bridge political divides and support independent press at a campus event Thursday.

Earnest addressed a crowd of about 170 students at UC Berkeley’s International House, where he engaged in a Q&A session with Shaina Zuber, head moderator of the Berkeley Forum, and also took questions from the audience. At the event, hosted by the forum, Earnest stressed the importance of the media in an era in which the government actively discredits the press.

“When you have a president that threatens the licenses of independent news organizations because he doesn’t like their reporting … it goes against the very essence of the First Amendment,” Earnest said in an interview with The Daily Californian.

Earnest began his speech with an anecdote that highlighted the repetitive nature of gun violence in the United States, citing the Sandy Hook shooting and the more recent Las Vegas shooting. Earnest said such events were so “tragically” common during his tenure as press secretary that press inquiries became routine because “the answers never changed.”

Later, Earnest called for a public debate on issues that the country is currently facing, including health care reform, immigration reform and climate change. Although Earnest was critical of the Republican Party, citing “repeated failures,” he urged the audience to bridge the gap between the left and the right and be a “movement of ideas.”

“It’s easy to gain attention for yourself if you can get in a fight and trash your opponent,” Earnest said during the event. “It takes more work to find common ground in an idea.”

Campus senior Michael Wu, who attended the event, said that although he has no party affiliation, he was interested in hearing Earnest speak because he offered an insightful perspective on policy issues. Caitlynn Valdivia, a campus junior transfer, said she believed Earnest was composed and capable at his job in comparison to the White House’s two most recent press secretaries, Sean Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, whom Valdivia said she found to be more aggressive and deliberately obscure in their language.

Earnest said during the event that the solution to changing the stagnant nature of the Democratic Party and the government as a whole lies in the hands of young adults. According to Earnest, in a world of fast-paced and dynamic news fueled by social media, students must become “sophisticated consumers of information” in order to stay informed.

During the moderated Q&A session, Earnest said he believed the role of the press secretary is to offer support to the president while diffusing — but not eliminating — tension between the White House and the White House press corps. Earnest criticized press secretaries who prioritize defending the president’s public image over telling the truth.

When asked whether he believes democracy is an end or a means to “something greater,” Earnest said that in order for democracies and countries to survive, they must “evolve.” He added that he is optimistic about the United States’ chances of keeping its democratic values alive.

“Democracy’s a little messy — it’s supposed to be. That’s evidence that it’s working,” Earnest said at the event.

Francesca Munsayac covers student life. Contact her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at @fcfm_dc.