By Kevin Perrington-Turner, Contributing Writer
For all the aspiring journalists out there, hope is still alive! People do still care about news and making sure the right information is being documented. Just not how we expect it to be. On Thursday night February 15, the UMass Dartmouth Law School hosted a seminar with Charles Sennot as the guest speaker.
With a room full of mostly an older generation and aspiring journalists, the atmosphere during this time was amazing. Even the current Boston Globe Middle East Bureau Chief took time out of his evening to inform the importance of news and how it is changing.
Immediately Sennott discussed the issue today and with the current state of journalism that we live in. Stating himself that, “Too much journalism is telling you what to think and not how to think” which many in the room agreed with. The topics ranged from CNN and Fox news to the local newspaper you are currently reading this from.
All news is important. As journalist, it is our job to make sure that the best possible material is being released. He also makes a claim about the style that most writers have been using. “Anonymous sources should be the last resort” understanding that too many articles have quotes and information that could be giving false news. Nonetheless he acknowledges that the way we, as people, receive and interpret news is changing and that we must change with it.
After a presentation shown by Sennott for his program called Report for America which is a great program for journalists to have their voice heard across the country. Sennott calls out millennials and challenge them to go out and travel. In hopes that more experience is gained.
Believing there’s more to journalism than just writing, “Working in a cubicle at Huffington Post is not enough.” He also, touches on social media and the different way news has transferred over. Soundcloud, Twitter, podcasts, and other ways we consume news. People are more reluctant to look for a newspaper for their news, when they can just scroll through their Twitter feed and see what is going on in the world. But Sennott also gives the danger of false news and to beware of it. Furthermore, Sennott does say that as citizens we should end up going to news sources that we can trust.
The conclusion of the seminar ended with question and answers from the crowd of people who were all jammed in a moderately small room. The program that was being promoted was for journalists from big to small areas in the country. Ones who feel as if they did not have a fair chance to show their writing and able to have a right platform.
Putting journalists in different environments to challenge their writing and give different perspectives. Many people left the seminar feeling hopeful and encouraged to become the best writer they could possible be. If your interested in helping, you can donate to the website. If there are any aspiring journalist with any age or background, will be able to apply for the program by also logging on to the website “reportforamerica.com.” Hopefully Charles Sennott will be able to turn around the problems that we face in journalism, but it starts with the youth.