Your news could be too pale

I tried to attend the replacement session for yesterday's "How to get an Internship" but left shortly after the guest speaker arrived ten minutes late and unprepared. Most of the other rooms were packed so I stumbled into one with a few seats open. The topic was diversity and how many different sides are actually being represented and reported in the campus newspaper. Two girls from L.A. discussed the dangers of having only limited perspectives and brainstorming meetings and explored the challenges of establishing long-term relationships with minorities that might be suspicious of your motives for wanting to obtain information. One of the girls told an anecdote of interviewing a black student who refused to comment on the issue saying, "You're just talking to me because I'm black."

Another thing stressed was the need to check stories for typical stereotypes. "We can fulfill the role of journalism a lot better [by doing that]," said one of the girls.

Among the ideas discussed was coverage of holidays like MLK day.
They also suggested affirmative recruitment for opinion pieces.

Jim Mustian