It”s time for journalists to put on their big-boy-pants so to speak and buckle up for the bumpy ride of bashing that accompanies an election year.
So with that said I will share some tales of journalists who I think are ethical, exceptional and morally sound, from my experiences.
When I returned to college to pursue a career in journalism, I returned as an adult and a mother.
My first stop on campus was to the office of my advisor and department head, Dr. Bleske. He eyed my transcripts with his glasses perched mid-way down his nose, and said, “I”ll be frank, typically students your age do not excel in this field.”
I replied quietly, but firmly, “With all due respect Dr. Bleske, I”m writing, not running a marathon.”
He nodded, signed my papers and I closed the door.
Occasionally he said hello over the next few years, but usually just nodded his head.
Before I graduated he signed the papers to nominate me for the Hearst award, and simply said “Good job Amanda.”
He also recommended me to various employers in the news industry and gave me high praise, but never to my face.
There was a 1973 movie called The Paper Chase, a classroom drama about students who attended Harvard Law School. Professor Charles W. Kingsfield of that movie was my Dr. Bleske.
I also encountered Professor Dave Waddell who was quite kind and pleasant until we walked in to the classroom.
“All of you will see your stories on these transparencies before the semester ends,” he said, as he pointed to the overhead. “Your classmates will critique the problems and point them out. If you don”t like that, you should leave now, because that is how it works. If you”re lucky enough to find a job, there will be many more readers tearing you apart than there are people in this classroom.”
Dave Waddell also taught every student how a newspaper is created without the benefit of computer technology. I still have the pica pole he gave me.
I was honored when he recommended me as “one of his very best,” and also nominated me for the Hearst award.
My journalism hero is Susan Brockus Ph.D, who came to my school from Purdue. She taught me that each news story is a piece of recorded history.
“People don”t put computers in time capsules; they put newspapers in them. They don”t print sheets out either. They save the original paper from the day. Newspapers end up in baby books and family albums,” she said.
She spent each night after she tucked her son into bed calling the sources that her students listed in their stories; the minimum was three. That system represented a source from each side as well as an un-biased professional.
Should a student lie about speaking to source or misquoting the source, that student failed the class.
If a name was misspelled the student”s assignment was given an F. She was a tough cookie.
She wanted to guarantee that she was sending accurate, ethical and balanced writers and editors in to the workforce. She cited that the exercise resembled the parallels a journalist can expect in the field.
She was not simply there to collect a check; this woman was passionate about journalism.
She knows more than a little about quality journalism.
She began writing news at age 9 because her parents owned a newspaper. She knew the Associated Press style inside and out.
A reporter who worked in an office with me would pass to someone else, any story that involved the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He belonged to that church and didn”t want to inadvertently interject any personal feelings. He said he could not write objectively about it.
Similarly a black reporter ended up covering a Klan rally in upstate New York. He said no one else was available and it was news that needed to be covered.
It”s that type of integrity that causes me to say this: I may not like or agree with what you have to say, but I will fight whole-heartedly for your First Amendment right to say it.
So in the end, I think voters should remain involved and vocal. The critical thinking and evaluating process is crucial to the success of this country. Speak, offend. We can take it. We”re used to it. We won”t take it personally.
Walter Lippmann, the 20th-century American columnist, wrote, “A free press is not a privilege, but an organic necessity in a great society.”
I am dedicating this column to the memory of Bonny Jean Hanchett, former owner of the Clear Lake Observer-American and a journalist I wish I would have met.
Mandy Feder is assistant managing editor/night desk for the Record-Bee. She can be reached at mandyfeder@yahoo.com or call her direct at 263-5636 ext. 32
