Extra Post; The Society of Professional Journalists & Me

The Society of Professional Journalists & Me 

    As a Journalism major, I do my best to get involved with as many organizations and connect with professionals to help me in my future endeavors. One organization that I am so grateful I joined early on is The Society of Professional Journalists. 

    The Society of Professional Journalists is a professional organization that includes broadcast, print and online journalists, journalism educators, and students interested in journalism as a career. They work to improve and protect journalism. The organization is also the nation's most broad-based journalism organization. The SPJ is dedicated to encouraging the free practice of journalism and holding high standards for ethical behavior.

    I decided to join the Society of Professional Journalists the first semester of my freshman year as one of my professors strongly urged me to do so. I am so grateful that I joined. Not only have I been able to get a more professional outlet for journalism, but also gain connections with upperclassmen and professors who want to help me succeed in my career. The SPJ at High Point also participates in many of the conferences and award programs they hold, so I'm looking forward to becoming involved with those as well. 

    The Society of Professional Journalists has a mission to encourage a climate in which journalism can be practiced free and fully, promote the flow of information, foster excellence, encourage diversity, and inspire successive generations of talented individuals. The Society also strives to maintain constant

vigilance in the protection of the First Amendment. The SPJ views the press as the cornerstone of our nation and our liberty. 

    The Society was founded in 1909 as the fraternity, Sigma Delta Chi, by 10 students at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. All 10 students were interested in careers in journalism and upheld high standards for their profession. In just two years, chapters started popping up at other universities. These included the Univesity of Denver, Washington University, the University of Virginia, Ohio State, and Purdue.

    With growing success, the Society held its first national convention in 1912 at DePauw University. The convention was very successful and added to the Society's growth in the following years. In 1916 the Society changed from an Honorary to a Professional fraternity and adopted its first code of ethics 10 years later. 

 

    The Society continued to flourish and expand across the nation and become nationally recognized. In 1973, the Society decided to make a change. They officially changed its name from Sigma Delta Chi to The Society of Professional Journalists and adopted a new code of ethics. With its continued growth and mission to protect the First Amendment, the Society had to update and expand often. 

    Today, that mission still stands. The Society states that it proactively designs initiatives that amplify new and diverse voices for both SPJ and journalism overall. This is one of many reasons why I am
proud to be a member of this society and contribute to its mission of protecting our rights and providing journalism for all.

    The SPJ also works to help produce the future of journalism. They provide leadership and writing resources, help prepare the next generation of journalists, and embrace, enjoy and educate journalists on technology and innovation to craft journalism's future. 

    The Society of Professional Journalists also ensures that the concept of self-government outlined by the United States Constitution remains a reality for future centuries. The American people must be well-informed in order to make decisions regarding their lives, their communities, and their country. It is the role of journalists to provide this information in an accurate, comprehensive, timely, and understandable manner.

    I could not be more excited and honored to be a member of this organization. The role of journalists is vital to our democracy and to have the Society of Professional Journalists as a resource is a great advantage to young journalists. I cannot wait for future opportunities with the Society and hope to come back to this blog post in the future with updates on how I am fulfilling my duty as a future journalist. 

 

Blog Post 2; EOTO 1 The History of The New York Tribune

The History of The New York Tribune

     Today, we rely heavily on journalism due to the notable and impactful history of newspapers in our country. One of these is The New York Tribune. The New York Tribune was established in 1841 by a well-known editor, Horace Greeley. The Tribune was politically associated with the Whig Party and was the dominant news source for this party from the 1840s up until the 1860s and played a tremendous role in shaping the American political opinion. The paper also amassed a record-breaking circulation of about 200,000 in the 1850s, which made it the largest daily paper in New York City.

    As mentioned, The New York Tribune was part of the dominant Whig party. Horace Greeley founded the New York Tribune as a Whig party, penny paper on April 10, 1841, and would continue as its editor for the next thirty years. The Whig party was a major political party in the United States formally organized in 1834. They united in their opposition to what was viewed as the executive tyranny of King Andrew Jackson. This political group largely favored an activist economic program, what we know today as the American System. 

    At this point in time, New York had an appetite for news that was undeniable, hence Greeley's introduction of the New York Tribune.  

    The Tribune offered a strong moralistic flavor. The Tribune largely provided political news, special articles, lectures, book reviews and excerpts, and poetry. Similar to other penny papers, the Tribune was not averse to building circulation by including stories that involved sex and crime, but they were careful to present this material under the guise of cautionary tales and often played down crime reports and scandals. Greeley's vision for the paper was a "New Morning Journal of Politics, Literature, and General Intelligence" he could lay a foundation and build from there. Because of this writing and outlook, the Tribune became one of the more significant newspapers in the United States.

    With that, we can note that the first issue of the paper was published by no other than Horace Greeley on April 10th, 1841.

    This first publication planted the seeds of the paper's longevity and importance to future journalists. The New York Tribune was one amongst other news giants in the 1800s such as the New York Sun and New York Herald. All of these sources were penny papers, meaning the competition and urgency to deliver news quickly was growing, but neither of its competitors could match the success of the Tribune's weekly edition.

   

    However, 4 years later on February 5th, 1845, the New York Tribune burned down. With true determination, the Tribune paper was published the next day, only an hour late. It is worth mentioning that after the tragedy, the Tribune always kept a duplicate of everything needed for the publication of the paper. This eventually formed a complete duplicate office and resulted in this setback adding to the Tribune's overall success. 

    Throughout the Tribune's existence, it accumulated works from many notable editors and feature writers. These included Henry Raymond, Charles A. Dana, Margaret Fuller, and others. Karl Marx even served as the London correspondent for the paper from 1851 to 1862. In the earlier days, the Tribune's editorial columns held a variety of educational reforms and producer cooperatives. Other memorable aspects of the Tribune's publishings include opposing women's suffrage, supporting Lincoln only in the Civil War (but not during his re-nomination in 1864), and promoting the anti-slavery case which was a big issue at this time.  

    After serving as editor and publisher of The New York Tribune, Greeley died in 1872. This left the paper under Whitelaw Reid's watch from 1873 until 1912 when his son, Ogden, succeeded him. Under Ogden, the Tribune became one of the nation's leading Republican newspapers. 

    In the Tribune's overall running, its general precept that "liberty was the paramount democratic virtue and that equality of opportunity, not of attainment, was the highest ideal of social justice" was seen very differently under the direction of Greeley and Reid. What changed drastically was the role of newspapers as moral preceptors. This was mainly due to the introduction and advancement in technology and social pressure.  

   In 1924, Ogden purchased The New York Herald and the Tribune merged with them to form the

New York Herald Tribune. This merge was credited for its typographical excellence, high-quality writing, foreign reporting, and political columnists. The Herald-Tribune now reigned as the major voice of moderate Republicans and was the major source of news for the next four decades. The Tribune-Herald merge set the stage for the future of journalism.  

    Adding to the previous topic of technological advances for journalism, by 1941, technology and social upheaval continuously dimmed the thunder of editorial pages. This was damaging to the Herald-Tribune as well as other papers because their power to persuade had been overthrown by the public opinion on certain events.

 

    Writers and editors were now shaping their front page editorials based on public opinion, not their own. Despite this being seen as a setback at the time, today we know it was a great advantage based on the kind of journalism we see and want today. 

    Without a doubt, the New York Tribune exerted considerable influence in shaping journalism today. The paper eventually attracted 300,000 subscribers and millions of readers pursued its columns. This made the Tribune one of the largest and most notable newspapers of this time.

    The Tribune at this point in history was a very unique institution. Not only did it have the largest circulation of newspapers on a national scope from Maine to California, but it was home to the

publications of some of the greatest leading minds. The weekly and semi-weekly editions expounded political and economic doctrines which struck a chord in readers who absorbed the writing in the editorial columns with unquestionable enthusiasm.

    It was also part of the surge of penny papers that strived to make a variety of papers to reach ordinary readers. With a relatively consistent ideology, the Tribune contained rigorous debates on some of the most pressing social and political issues of the day. The Tribune even forged important connections abroad, as mentioned earlier. It is worth noting that the New York Tribune, in part, shaped the opinion of domestic politics by international events. 

 

    The New York Tribune lead an organ of both the Whig and Republican parties and bridged the world of politics, literature, and social reform. Due to the Tribune and other newspapers of this time, we can see the growth and change of journalism. Without these influential writers and editors that came before us, we would not have the kind of journalism we see today and it is worth diving into the history of news to see how vital it is to our democracy. 

"Freedom of the press is only guaranteed by those who own one." 

- A.J. Liebling, 1960

Blog Post 1; Why Journalism?

Why Journalism? 

    The job is time-consuming, stressful, and puts one under constant scrutiny. Journalists' jobs are far from glamorous, so why would a young student even consider that as a career path?

    Why choose to major in journalism? For me, the answer is quite simple; to provide a public service. From a very young age, I have always been engulfed in community service. It was something that my parents strived for us (my siblings and I) to understand and appreciate. They always made sure to keep us involved in service opportunities. This was probably the biggest factor for me when choosing to major in journalism. 

    Additionally, as I got older and found where my academic strengths were, I discovered that I really enjoyed writing. It was something that I was always told that I had a knack for. It was my freshman year of high school when I participated in a mock trial and it was pure bliss. The type of writing we had to complete for the mock trial was exactly what I wanted as it was all professional journalistic style writing. It was then that I knew this was the career I wanted. 

    The final factor that led to my decision to major in journalism was the exposure I had to political situations early on in my life. My mother was a communications major with a focus on political science. After she graduated from college, she worked on presidential campaigns and for Meet The Press. Ever since I was little, she made a strong effort to make sure that we had a solid understanding of our country and government. I remember always being so fascinated by this and I think that childhood curiosity still sticks with me.  

    

    With these things combined, I concluded that journalism was the path for me. My goal is to one day be an investigative reporter, as they offer society an incredible service by reporting important information on issues and events in our country. I feel that this specific field of journalism incorporates everything I want in my career; public service, writing, and law.

    

    Throughout high school and now into college, I have had people discourage me from this field. They warn me of the cons and pressure that come with being a journalist.

Even though this job is not glamorous, I know it's what I want. I would much rather have a fulfilling and challenging career where I get to write, report, and serve others rather than a boring 9-5 that is just as stressful and challenging in a career field I would resent. The 'negative' aspects of the journalism field wither away when I focus on the good and rewarding parts of the career, and that's how I know this is what I want to do with my life.
 

Why This Class?

    Why am I in this class? Never Stay Silent is a journalism class that explores the history, inner works, and importance of journalism in our democracy. While this class is required for all journalism majors, I see it as much more than just a class to check off of my schedule. 

    This class is giving me the opportunity to dig deeper into the history and importance behind my intended career path. I find this extremely valuable because not many people going into a field get as deep of an understanding of the past as this. I also think it is important to take this class to also learn from the past and to see how journalism has changed in our country. 

    I think that taking this class as a freshman is also a great advantage because I can enhance my later studies in journalism with the foundation this class offers. This class also offers preparation for journalistic style writing and posts through the blog. I think this is another valuable aspect of the class, as it allows students to become accustomed to the kind of writing journalists do. It also is great to be able to get this practice in a classroom setting.  

    Through this class, I hope to not only gain a better understanding of the history of journalism and improve my writing but also a deeper appreciation for the field. I'm looking forward to the rest of this class and learning about the history and importance of journalism in our country.