By Steven Adamo
Journalism courses are just as helpful for core learning development as required math and english courses are.
Journalism blends all the subjects into one.
A journalist doesn’t always know what methods work for stories because every story is different.
The amount of research that goes into a story takes about as long as writing it.
That level of research could be beneficial for those who get their news from social media.
After taking a public relations course, it’s easier for me to spot when somebody is answering a question while stretching the truth.
It’s important to think critically when covering the news.
As a journalism major, I continue to learn how to interview people and ask better questions.
This has helped me write a number of other academic papers I’ve had to turn in at ELAC.
Learning how to search archives, thinking about how to structure a paper or how to conduct an interview, are all beneficial skills.
Though I can see the benefit of learning some math, I believe that structuring the lede to a story feels like working on a math problem.
Removing excess words, switching the placement of sentences and organizing the flow of the story works the same brain muscles as math.
The most important aspect of journalism for me is that it has taught me to seek the truth.
With online blogs and micro-blogging, false truths posted online have the same appearance as the truth.
Perhaps news media doesn’t always intentionally say non-truths, but they do slip by the timeline pretty frequently. Why?
If a story doesn’t have any sources, it is usually suspect to me now.
What are the differences between news outlets’ reporting?
Is there new information? Is it using the story or event as a way to push an agenda?
After spending several years attending journalism courses at ELAC, not only has writing news become easier, but reading it as well.
Reading from a variety of sources helps me think critically and make an educated guess on what the truth is.
If we lose sight of the importance of journalism, especially in regard to its place in the Constitution, corruption will win out in the end.
Though writing a story can be difficult, it is necessary.