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By Mackala Krichbaum, KrichbaumM@Findlay.edu
Emmy-winning broadcast journalist Jim Heath recorded a podcast with Amy Rogan, Assistant Professor of Teaching in Media and Communication, discussing the importance of the upcoming election. While they were recording the podcast, those in attendance of this event were able to ask questions.
Heath started the event by stating on word – truth. Within the word truth, Heath refers to journalists as the referees. Journalists are the middlemen who must take in both sides of the story without becoming unbiased, according to Heath.
“I thought it was a good message,” UF student Grant Goodfellow said. “I feel like a lot of people say that they focus on getting the truth. So sometimes it’s hard to tell to tell whose truth is the truth.”
Even though social media can share biased news, Heath discussed how social media can also be used positively.
“I mean, first of all, it’s (social media) fun,” UF student Victoria Hansen said. “You know, there’s a point where it can cease to be fun.”
While college students have no option in what can be posted we can control how we interact with those outlets. Heath made it clear to be skeptical of the source and that the local sources often provide the best-undisputed coverage.
“I use Reddit as a news aggregator sometimes, but I also check the BBC, AP News, and NPR,” Hansen said.
Even though everybody has their own opinions, it is important for journalists to remain neutral.
“I mean it’s hard because we are always going to have opinions about stuff. I think that it’s important to find the truth like Jim Heath said,” Goodfellow said. “Find something that you think is pretty undisputed and write your story about that.”
