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This semester I was tasked with reporting upon Master’s Hall, Alumni Hall, and Chapel at Albright College. I faced challenges such as finding sources, stories, and background information while having to obtain permission to quote and be occasionally blocked. Though I sometimes faced challenges, there were also successes. These successes included finding interesting topics, good sources, and informing readers about events and how it affected the community. Today, professional journalists face all these problems and more. Regardless, all journalists must strive for excellence and, “work independently, juggle multiple assignments, meet deadlines, and most of all, produce accurate, complete stories” (Killenberg 27).
Throughout my beat I conducted original investigative reporting. This type of reporting requires journalists to personally observe and record information on a specific topic or subject of their choice (Kovach & Rosenstiel 176). I conducted interviews with knowledgeable people, such as professors or doctors, in order to provide evidence in creating my articles. My first article regarded the retirement of Professor Richard Androne. This article came with some difficulty because I was not able to obtain a conclusion due to the fact that the English department is prevented from interviewing anyone for Androne’s replacement.
Killenberg’s advice for this type of situation is, “Education reporters who concentrate on the shortcomings and failures of our schools and de-emphasize the success stories can expect criticism” (311). When writing my article, I tried to focus upon Androne’s career while also gaining insight into how he was received as a professor during his 40-year career. This I was able to do because I was able to obtain good sources such as two professors from the English department. In my article I wrote, “When the English Department is able to hire, “the plan is to find someone who is of least student centered and maintains both a love of literature but an understanding of the historic … the literary history of American literature that was so central to Dr. Androne’s distinctiveness,” said Gilliams.” In this quote I was able to capture the hiring issue facing the English department as well as Androne’s influence.
I also wanted to inform people about the situation, which I deemed one of my successes. Since Androne had recently retired, there was not a lot of information on when he would be replaced. I personally wanted to know what was happening within my department and community. Killenberg writes, “Reporters covering education must be knowledgeable, well-read and alert to developments in their field as counterparts on the legal or medical beats” (311). Therefore I began to investigate and found, “There are currently no solutions being provided or replacements being interviewed for Androne’s position. The English Department continues to persevere however, despite losing one of their integral professors at Albright.” Though I did express the concerns of the professors I had interviewed about the void in the department, my article was not centered around failure.
My second article involved the new logo for Albright’s newspaper, the Albrightian. For this article I had trouble finding a story. Eventually, I decided to write an article about the Albrightian because they have meetings located in Alumni Hall, which was part of my beat. To introduce the article, I wrote, “The Albrightian newspaper has recently undergone a revamping of their logo and slogan. Now, instead of a slogan that emulates Albright College and the logo portraying a handwritten font, the newspaper has received a more professional look. This drastic change was enacted during the beginning of the Spring 2017 semester.” I followed Killenberg advice by using, “simple, understandable, jargon-free language that is familiar to the average person” (65). I was able to tell readers what my article is about in a few short sentences while also informing them when the change to the newspaper was enacted.
My article about the Albrightian also had an array of relevant sources. Kovach and Rosenstiel write, “The notion of freedom of the press is rooted in independence and diverse voices” (44). I was able to interview the editor of the Albrightian, an E-board member, and someone who participated in the logo contest. Regarding the contest I wrote, “Pollicove said, “The Executive Board did vote on the new logo after it was submitted, and I will acknowledge that the vote was not unanimous.” Despite these issues, Nelson explained, “We resolved the issues by putting it to a vote, and the majority vote ruled.”’ My sources had a variety of opinions and those in power were able to inform me about the process and their own perspective. These interviews allowed me to effectively notify Albrightians about events happening in their community.
My third article involved an English department reading with a guest speaker named Alexis Schaitkin. This article required me to attend an event and provide background information about the reader. The event was located on campus at Alumni Hall. As Killenberg writes, “Thousands of potential human-interest stories are to be found in college classrooms. Other important, appealing stories can be found outside the classroom in faculty offices, research labs, clinics, or auditoriums” (309-310). Finding sources for this article was difficult; however, Schaitkin graciously agreed to an interview via email. I was eventually able to obtain my other sources which included Marian Wolbers, who had suggested the event, and Janice Rodriguez, who is also a writer. Even though I covered the event, interviews are important. Killenberg writes, “interviewing allows journalists to probe for details, collect anecdotal material, verify confliction information and capture the unique expressions of news sources” (37). Wolbers and Rodriguez proved to have interesting perspectives regarding literature and Schaitkin’s reading.
My article began with me introducing the event and then providing its reception by quoting a professor who had attended the reading. I wrote, “Rodriguez, who attended the event, believes, “She captures the essence of a character or the human condition in succinct and sharp phrases, tiny strings of words that open whole worlds of understanding.”” This quote added an element that emphasized the positive reception of the reading. I was then able to provide a quote from Shaitkin’s interview along with background information about her previous work. I believe I concluded my article with a strong quote from the writer. I wrote, “Schaitkin’s future goals include being able to, “make a career of both writing fiction and teaching creative writing.”” Though in the beginning I faced the challenge of finding relevant sources, I was able to obtain different viewpoints about literature and the reading.
My last article involved current events surrounding Planned Parenthood and how it would affect people in the community. I took a nationally covered topic and was able to localize the issue. Kovach & Rosenstiel write, “The biggest exception to media isolation is localism” (159). I was able to conduct interviews with a variety of knowledgeable people. These people included someone who attended the Women’s march, a member of the NOW women’s organization on campus, and the Director of the Gable Health Center. As a journalist I must, “understand, relate to and accurately represent different generations, different races, different ethnic groups, different genders and different living conditions” (Killenberg 325). I was able to do this by interviewing a diverse set of people from different backgrounds and experiences.
These people had different perspectives and knowledge about the issues surrounding Planned Parenthood. Gary Priore, who attended the Women’s march and is a scientist, focused his perspective about the event and services provided by Planned Parenthood. Elizabeth Sutcliffe, who is a part of the organization NOW, centered her interview around low-income people and their availability to healthcare services. Samantha Wesner, the Director of the Gable Health Center, informed me about women’s health, services they provide, and what women need to do in order to take care of their bodies.
These interviews provided me with information about different events and perspectives in the community. Killenberg writes about the importance of diversity stating, “Intellectual diversity encourages open exchanges and debate within the newsroom as editors, reporters and designers try their best to represent and serve the entire community” (326). I believe that I was able to implement different materials and interviews in a way that communicated varying opinions in an effective manner. This issue regarding Planned Parenthood was able to be successfully localized through interviewing people from individual parts of the community.
My beat posed multiple challenges but also allowed me to experience an inkling of what journalists face on a daily basis. In addition to some of the challenges that I experienced, journalists also face criticism from the public as well as their own editors. It can be difficult to find stories, relevant sources, or background information. This beat also made me realize that some questions may be left unanswered, such as who is going to be Androne’s replacement. Regardless, it is up to the journalist to find out why this is happening. While there have been many challenges, some successes have been experienced such as obtaining interesting interviews from a diverse group of people. I was able to interview many people from many backgrounds which incidentally made my articles more compelling and relatable. My beat allowed me to search for engaging topics that affected people in the community while also allowing me to interact with other Albrightians.
Work Cited
Killenberg, George Michael. Public Affairs Reporting Now: News of, by and for the
people. Oxford: Focal Press, 2008. Print.
Kovach, Bill, and Tom Rosenstiel. The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople
Should Know and the Public Should Expect. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2014. Print.