Media: Back to school
Posted in On the Media with tags Andy Kravetz, Bradley University, college, Michael Miller on November 19, 2008 by Billy DennisAnd here I thought Journal Star reporters lived in fear of getting mentioned on Peoria Pundit.
More on that in a moment.
I was a guest in former Journal Star religion writer/copy desk maven Mike Miller’s journalism class at Bradley University. Also guesting was current JS courts/military affairs reporter Andy Kravetz.
We were invited to discuss online journalism. In addition to writing full time for the paper, he also maintains a blog, called InFormation, in which he writes about military issues.
Andy was there to present the mainstream media approach to online. I was the providing the citizen journalism perspective.
Andy and I agrees on quite a lot. He’s is far less enthusiastic about the value of comments, as he finds that comments seem to inevitably denigrate into flamewars. I cannot help but think about how my readers often provide insight and knowledge on many issues.
We mostly agreed on the need for blogs operated by the mainstream media to maintain the same standards of objectivity they aspire to follow in print or broadcast. I agreed, but added that blogs provide another voice that is often opinionated, and that opinion is also journalism. Objectivity, I noted, is NOT a state of mind but is a process that includes making sure that multiple sources are used to provide balance and expertize. What readers want, I said, is fairness.
The students asked interesting questions about how and when to moderate comments, and how to deal with the fact that some people hate what you write. ‘They can kill you, but they can’t eat you,’ I replied.
I didn’t get a chance to tell the ‘Yo, Pundit” story.
But both Andy and Mr. Miller expressed disappointment that I don’t mention them much. Miller said the only time I even mentioned his name was when I reported that he was taking the buyout.
Usually, the only feedback I get from JS people is when they express, well, unhappiness that I mentioned them. And the hour passed quickly, and I didn’t get to interact as much with the students as I would like.
So I’m looking forward to visiting John Sharp’s class on some Tuesday.
