Tuesday, January 30, 2018

What it Means to be a Journalist


From syllabus, images of MMU students who are journalists (with cameos from Iowa Watch and 'The Gazette.'

“‘The New York Times is trying to distract you.’” Sean Hannity, Jan. 25.

From the Fake News, I suppose. We have a shocking video of the day to bring you—Fox News is not a reliable “news” source, compared to “The New York Time.” If you want Fake, think Fox (new slogan, remember I came up with it). Not that the Times is always right, but they at least have the right process to report the facts and make some effort to correct their errors.

Anyway, I had an interesting class today—the first day of Introduction to Journalism. I have a large class this spring—twice its usual size—and I suppose maybe I have the Fake President to thank for that. We’ve seen many, many examples of the importance of journalism in dark times.

And more students are interested in journalism, which is to the good.

This morning, I showed this video, which summarizes the role of journalism in the digital age. I don’t know the person who made it, but I think it’s making valid points:



Journalism students today must study and learn who to trust and when, and how to tell their stories in any medium.

Also, to talk about the process of reporting, we watched this video from “The Washington Post”:



Journalism can be thankless and difficult. But it is important. In class, 10 students signed up to report for “The Mount Mercy Times” first issue of the spring semester.

Yay! Let the sun shine. Go, Times, both NY and MMU.