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Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Michael Omenazu
Staff Writer
On September 11, 2001 New York City experienced a terrorist attack that forever changed the nation. As the Twin Towers fell, some feared freedom and innocence would follow. Four years later, New Orleans was drowned in calamity as it was subjected to the catastrophic effects of Hurricane Katrina. The disastrous consequences extended far beyond the Gulf region as the magnitude of tragedy was realized by individual citizens, regardless of their geographic location. The cold chill of the destructive winds that swept across Louisiana was felt throughout the nation. These cataclysmic events are forever linked in both their distressing nature and timing as they transpired under the same presidential administration.
An objective analysis of the current political situation would suggest that once again the country will experience another unprecedented occasion as presidential hopefuls potentially include America’s first black or woman president. The possibilities that the future presents ignite fiery debates over issues that accompany the past, particularly the national color divide which give new meaning to the phrase, “The Presidential Race.”
America is a nation built through the fruits of diversity and founded in the principles of equality. Its attempt to ensure these standards has sustained discussions on race from the beginning of its history to contemporary conversations. Debates have been held in the smallest of forums to the grandest scales, moving by the effective means of the vehicle known as the media. This remains relevant as presidential campaign trails now navigate down this road in a similar direction as it now includes television interviews and internet broadcasts.
The upcoming 2008 presidential election will be unparalleled as it will be affected by these original factors. However, it will still be determined by the perceptions of traditional issues such as race, gender and the media. Currently as a member of the media I examined the factor race plays, applying the debate within the specific context of print journalism by inquiring the following questions: Does the nationality, ethnicity, or racial background of a columnist/journalist affect a reader's impression of an article? Should a newspaper intentionally diversify its class/staff in order to cover the broad demographics of a school newspaper? Also, if the above action is taken, can that be classified as stereotypical?
Former Dean Loren Ghilgone of Medill, the top-tier school of journalism at Northwestern University responded by saying:
“In an ideal world, perhaps, we would all be so sensitive to a variety of differences in people--race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ideology, income, appearance, class, etc.--that who wrote for your newspaper would not make a difference. But in the real world staff diversity is a plus. Diversity makes a difference in what subjects get covered and how they are reported.”
He continued by stating that, “People are sensitive to who is staffing a newspaper. Are you looking at the world only through the eyes of white people? Only through the eyes of men, not women? Only through the eyes of straight people, not gays and lesbians? Only through the eyes of wealthy and middle-income folks, not the poor?”
His plans of achieving diversity were founded in the belief that “If you want your paper to represent the entire school community, you are going to have to work at achieving staff diversity. You are going to have to encourage people to join the staff. If the staff is completely white, you may need to personally invite African Americans to join. Otherwise, they may feel unwelcome. If only men are editors, how can you encourage women to consider becoming editors?”
Addressing the possibility of being politically incorrect he asserted that, “Whatever you do to try to broaden the representation of your entire school on the staff of your paper, you are going to be criticized. Be open to constructive criticism. But don't retreat from trying to bring greater diversity to your staff. If only white students apply, you are missing out on the talent of the students of color. So try to engage and include the entire student body.”
I extended the conversation to the diverse community of UIS which provided equally differing responses. They were asked: Would you describe yourself as an active reader of The UIS Journal? How would such be translated onto a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the most active? What attracts you reading the newspaper? Do you know who is on the staff, their racial background, and if so does that affect your perspective of the paper?
First year student Ashley Okooboh stated that she was a seldom reader of The UIS Journal, rating herself at a level of five. The things that attract her are the pictures and quotes from students who participated in certain events from the school, the section where they ask random students on campus random questions, and the horoscopes. She does not know the staff yet it would not affect her perspective even if she did.
Her example was similar to transfer student Brianne Moeller who rated herself a three because she did not particularly read the Journal. She preferred the sports articles and although she doesn’t know who is on the staff she doesn’t care “Who writes what as long as it’s interesting.”
Lance Ennen and Brian Doellman both read the paper a similar amount Doellman stated that, he would consider himself as “an active reader of The Journal” as he tries to “Get a copy of every issue” garnering a rating of 8-9. Ennen stated that he was fairly active as he would scan the headlines and then usually read the articles with headlines that interest him. His rating was around a 7.
As an athlete, Doellman likes to read the sports articles and also he scans over the paper to see anything interesting. The race of the writers was irrelevant as he said that, “I do not know who is on the staff of The Journal; therefore I do not know their racial background.” Lance usually reads The Journal to keep up with what's going on campus. He admitted, “Living off-campus, I can sometimes miss some stuff, so I look for The Journal to keep me informed.” He continued, “I know who a couple of the staff members are but I don't know every staff member. I really don't care what race or what anything else the author of an article may be. I'm more focused on the topic, and the quality of writing and information. Basically, no matter who is writing, I will scan the paper after Wacky Wednesday, and I will read it more thoroughly when I work on Wednesday nights.”
Senior LaTrice Nettles provided an in-depth response by affirming that, “Yes I am an active reader of The Journal. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say I started out at a 1 but in the past two years I'd have to go with a 9. Considering that I was involved in many campus activities, Women's basketball, and SGA throughout my four years here, I often looked forward to getting the paper on Wednesday afternoons to see how certain events were covered. Many times I'm disappointed if I missed out on a week’s paper, and often looked for an old one lying around.”
Latrice explained that, “In this past semester I've really been interested mainly in the academic and controversial issues that have arisen on this campus, and to stay updated with what's going on. I also skim through it to see if there are other interesting articles that may catch my interest, maybe one or two about a play, movie, book, or an event on campus that was influential.”
When discussing the role of a writers’ background Nettles stated, “I know a lot of people on the staff and I think they're awesome and talented, and it is pretty diverse. For a student to take on extra responsibility to do something they enjoy- writing, photography, editing, lay-outs, etc.- it shows a lot and it's hard work. Even though The Journal has gone through multiple transitions in the staff this past year, I commend the staff for working as hard as they do, and I believe the paper has done better than expected.
Other students, dissimilar in the levels of interest in The Journal, provided their comments on the issue of the affect of an author’s race on his writing. Despite the differences in the paper’s appeal all shared the same notion that journalists are evaluated on their performance and rather than color of their skin on the content of their text.
I learned through the research that race is not as big of a factor for readers as I had once believed. Readers look beyond an author’s ethnicity and personal customs to judge it solely on the basis of its quality. A reader’s perception of a piece is not simply just black and white but a colorful array of personal beliefs, cultural influence, and pure interests.
