CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- On Thursday night, CBS Face the Nation host and University of Virginia alumna Margaret Brennan sat down with the host of NPR'S Full Disclosure podcast to discuss the current political climate and more.

During a time of political polarization, she encourages journalists to stick to the facts and steer clear of distractions.

"We can just bring the focus back to the very, very problems facing the country right now and away from the shiny objects that sometimes can be distracting and drive a lot of conversation," she said.

Brennan says if journalists do get distracted by stories that shouldn't matter as much, it could hurt journalism as a whole.

"The public is losing faith in a lot of different institutions and we are in a low-confidence environment it opens people up to manipulation and misinformation," she said.

She thinks the stakes are very high for journalists, especially right now.

"Because we need to keep that trust from the public in an environment where they have information at their fingertips," Brennan said.

As UVA Final Exercises are taking place this weekend, the UVA grad is also giving her fellow ‘Hoos advice as they begin a new chapter in their life.

"You don't need to walk into that first job knowing exactly what you want to do treat it like you're back in school, in terms of just trying to absorb as much as you can and learn as much as you can. That is how you learn on the job. Think of it as paid graduate school," Brennan said.

She's not in town for too long but she hopes to show her assistant and other people from CBS the Grounds of her alma mater.