Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Diversity

Diversity was the topic this week. Honestly, this has been the most interesting topic we have talked about so far. Before taking this class, I thought that all papers did a good job being diverse. I thought, since we are learning how to be diverse in college, professionals in our field must know how. However, after going over some examples in lecture, I realize that’s not the case. How can a paper expect to be diverse if they don’t have a diverse newsroom? The fact is you can’t. Editor in chiefs need to send their reporters out of their comfort zone. If the reporter is white, send them into the African-American community. If the reporter is Jewish, send him to do a story about a church giving back. Through diversity we can have understanding. But I’m sure all major papers knew that already.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Take a Chance on Language

This week in lecture, we talked about language that newspapers tend to avoid. I am here to tell the publishers to take a chance.
Language is our way of communication. Sometimes, “bad words” are needed to tell a story. Here are two examples.
Let’s say a man was just arrested for killing his wife. The local media got the arrest on tape and some quotes on their recorders. While the police were taking him away, he said to the media, “I killed her because it was my fucking right to kill her.” Now, despite the fact that this quote is crazy, it adds color to the story. Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t reporters supposed to quote color? I realize that papers have to look out for their entire audience, but realistically, who would be reading this story who hasn’t heard the word “fuck” before?
My second example deals with sports. This really bothers me. We see coaches go off on TV swearing every other word. This intensity is what makes sports so great. Why take that away? If a coach says, “We need to beat those cross-town bitches,” it adds flavor to the story. It shows how much these teams despise each other. It creates a better atmosphere at the park. It builds up the rivalry.
This is my call to publishers to take a chance with their language. A good newspaper is careful. A great newspaper takes chances. Anyone agree?

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Racism in Papers

This week I would like to address a letter that was written by a DI staff member. Terrell Starr, DI staff reporter, wrote a letter to the Editor in Chief Steve Contorno about the DI’s coverage of the Cotton Club after-party. My first thought was that this letter was going to be another boring editorial. I was wrong.

Terrell’s words really showed me how important is to be careful with our words. In our text, “When Words Collide,” the authors addressed this issue in chapter 12.

“Language should help us appreciate and write about differences among people as it promotes fairness and tolerance.”

Starr hit this rule right on. Starr talked about choosing our words wisely, always keeping in mind the unintentional messages we send to our readers.

“I am writing this to you because I care about the unintentional messages we are sending our readers,” Starr wrote to Contorno.

Honestly, I have never really thought about this issue, other than in journalism classes. I always assumed that the DI, Chicago Tribune and other major newspapers did a good job of fairly representing all races and groups. I never realized that unintentional messages could be inferred from seeing certain headlines next to each other. After reading Starr’s letter, I am always going to be looking for those inadvertent messages papers are sending. Hopefully, through recognizing these messages, I myself will never be the one who sends a mixed message to his readers. Thanks Terrell.