CHANGE IS THE PRICE OF SURVIVAL

In these times of war, much emphasis has been placed on how poorly much of the media have been covering Iraq, North Korea and the politics surrounding war. While the Daily Egyptian cannot deal directly with those issues, we still have concern about how the media cover anything in the changing times.

The media are often stereotyped with a “if it bleeds it leads” attitude. This is not always true. Unfortunately, it can be, which is a reason for us to take a step back and examine what we do. Those of us who enter this profession do so with the hope of changing the world for the better, not sensationalizing the negative without reason.

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Friday afternoon we sponsored a roundtable discussion about how the media deal with covering and writing about sensitive issues such as race, sexual orientation and people with disabilities. The discussion was truly enlightening, and we would like to thank all those who attended.

We discussed many aspects of covering diverse issues. For example, when writing crime stories, journalists often list a description of a perpetrator. Many times, the police will include the person’s race. Deciding whether that is relevant or not can be difficult. Is reference to race necessary? How do we find a consistent balance? Terms such as “black,” “African-American,” “Negro,” “Latino,” and “Hispanic” are just a few ways people choose to identify themselves when referring to their race. Some people prefer one term to another. How do we, as journalists refer to them without offending all and still keeping some form of consistency? When do we run a mug shot of a perpetrator on the front page? We are taught to follow certain rules, but those rules can be changed.

And when do we write stories about these issues? What types of stories? Coverage of Black History Month, Native American Heritage Month, Hispanic Heritage month and others is important to us. It is a time to reflect on progress our society has made. But there are 12 months in the year, and focusing on such issues should not be relegated to one single month.

The people we use as sources often put their own spin on things. This can influence a story in many ways. Dealing with oppression of minority groups is difficult, for it is always easier to fall back into the rut of making fun of what is different. But we must be mindful of what we do. Society influences each human being in many ways. We all harbor biases that we might not even be conscious of. We hope that dialogues such as this one allow us to learn about those biases and how to fight them.

In these changing times it is the students of today who can take their knowledge to the world and make a difference in how the media operate and what they choose to focus on. The media have a tremendous power and influence in the world, something we do not take lightly. The media are part of the capitalist system, but it is also the fourth estate of government. Finding a balance between those two responsibilities is no easy task.

We hope that this roundtable discussion is not the last. As always, we invite the community to write letters and columns, participating in discussions through this editorial page. We ask you to call us, write us and let us know what we can do better, what events are going on that we should know about, and what trends you have observed that others should be aware of.

Awareness is the key to change. Change happens. Positive change can happen through the media, and we thank you for helping us start that.

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