Before the event
Arriving 35 minutes early in a chilly Rose theater, I was excited about the panel discussion. I think that this will be a great topic to expand on because I am utterly disappointed about news coverage in Memphis. Being a native Memphian all my life, I have seen a lot of racism on and off screen . This topic must be addressed especially in the Journalism because we are painters of images in society. We must be unbiased in our newsgathering. We will see if our panel can bring some light into a gloomy situation. I am hopeful.
After the event
The panel exceeded past my expectations. I was amazed and educated at the same time. I mean wow!!! It was a diversed group of people that included journalists and community leaders. All of them had a variety of opinions that were useful to a young journalists like myself. On the panel were Karanja Ajanku (Tri-State Defender), Joe Birch (WMC 5), Donna Davis (Former anchor on WMC 5), Wanda Halbert ( City Council), Ken Jobe (News Director), Otis Straford (Commerical Appeal), Johnnie Turner ( President of the Memphis chapter NAACP), Jim Turpin ( News Director) and Bruce Moore (News Director ). The discussion opened up with when Bruce Moore showed the audience a compliation of clips the good and bad in reporting. Afterwards, there was another clip shown about the beer shooting in Memphis. It was about a man who got shot in the street over a beer. It was a breaking news event and Janice Broach , who was the first reporter on the scene, interviewed a lady. The lady was speaking in a dialect that you could not understand better known as "Memphis talk".
I found it offensive along with other people on the panel but Davis justified the story by explaining that was the person they could find at moment. Who I thought stole the show was Johnnie Turner. Mrs. Turner was an outspoken character and considered herself as the watchdog of the Memphis media. She spoken out about couple of the things like the gun permit story and New York Post cartoon. I learned about being fair and accurate which is not a problem for me. We as journalists should tell the whole story and convince the audience in the wrong direction. Each person had sound advice to give to us at the end of the discussion.
Karanja Ajanku
"Hire people that are "culturally comptent."
Donna Davis
"Remember how you can serve and use your voices."
Wanda Halbert
"To be senstive and balance in your reporting." "Stop trying to sway the perception of the story just tell the story."
Ken Jobe
"Get in the newsroom and bring fairness with you."
Otis Straford
" You can't be a really good journalist unless you establish good relationships."
Johnnie Turner
" We have a reputation of being polarized."
"Tell the otherside."
Jim Turpin
" We need newsroom leaders"
"Just because we can doesn't mean we should."
Final Thoughts
As new Journalists, we must come with a clear consicious and bring ethics back into business. We must not cheat our viewers but give them the story. Our job is to seek the truth and report it. It is time to get back to basics.
Arriving 35 minutes early in a chilly Rose theater, I was excited about the panel discussion. I think that this will be a great topic to expand on because I am utterly disappointed about news coverage in Memphis. Being a native Memphian all my life, I have seen a lot of racism on and off screen . This topic must be addressed especially in the Journalism because we are painters of images in society. We must be unbiased in our newsgathering. We will see if our panel can bring some light into a gloomy situation. I am hopeful.
After the event
The panel exceeded past my expectations. I was amazed and educated at the same time. I mean wow!!! It was a diversed group of people that included journalists and community leaders. All of them had a variety of opinions that were useful to a young journalists like myself. On the panel were Karanja Ajanku (Tri-State Defender), Joe Birch (WMC 5), Donna Davis (Former anchor on WMC 5), Wanda Halbert ( City Council), Ken Jobe (News Director), Otis Straford (Commerical Appeal), Johnnie Turner ( President of the Memphis chapter NAACP), Jim Turpin ( News Director) and Bruce Moore (News Director ). The discussion opened up with when Bruce Moore showed the audience a compliation of clips the good and bad in reporting. Afterwards, there was another clip shown about the beer shooting in Memphis. It was about a man who got shot in the street over a beer. It was a breaking news event and Janice Broach , who was the first reporter on the scene, interviewed a lady. The lady was speaking in a dialect that you could not understand better known as "Memphis talk".
I found it offensive along with other people on the panel but Davis justified the story by explaining that was the person they could find at moment. Who I thought stole the show was Johnnie Turner. Mrs. Turner was an outspoken character and considered herself as the watchdog of the Memphis media. She spoken out about couple of the things like the gun permit story and New York Post cartoon. I learned about being fair and accurate which is not a problem for me. We as journalists should tell the whole story and convince the audience in the wrong direction. Each person had sound advice to give to us at the end of the discussion.
Karanja Ajanku
"Hire people that are "culturally comptent."
Donna Davis
"Remember how you can serve and use your voices."
Wanda Halbert
"To be senstive and balance in your reporting." "Stop trying to sway the perception of the story just tell the story."
Ken Jobe
"Get in the newsroom and bring fairness with you."
Otis Straford
" You can't be a really good journalist unless you establish good relationships."
Johnnie Turner
" We have a reputation of being polarized."
"Tell the otherside."
Jim Turpin
" We need newsroom leaders"
"Just because we can doesn't mean we should."
Final Thoughts
As new Journalists, we must come with a clear consicious and bring ethics back into business. We must not cheat our viewers but give them the story. Our job is to seek the truth and report it. It is time to get back to basics.
