Thursday, October 25, 2007

Can I be a Journalist and a Christian, Too?

I was really excited about my noon session because I was going to attend the independent filmmaking seminar. By the time I got to that room, every seat was taken. I found myself wandering the hall for a different session to sit in.

The one I wandered into happened to be my favorite of the day. Terry Mattingly and Dean Nelson were very interesting and entertaining instructors. They discussed how teachers at Christian colleges can be biased and turn students away from secular journalism jobs. They identified being a journalist as a calling. A really great point they made is how religious people hate journalists, but the people who wrote the Bible were journalistic in a way. The Bible is written by storytellers, and in a way, journalists are storytellers. They tell the stories that get published all over the nation or even just their community.

They also discussed how some of the ethics of Christianity make great journalistic standards. Christians are supposed to treat others as they would want to be treated. Same thing goes for journalists. They should write stories about others as they would want stories about them written -- unbiased.

A great verse they gave us is Proverbs 31:8

"Speak up for those who can not speak for themselves."

Mary Manno

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