Those of us with little to no practical journalism experience got a healthy dose of what goes on at a working paper. Kaiser's talk on opening night and his presentation the next morning did a lot to dispel the-end-is-neigh worry of the new advisers. Some of us might have arrived wondering if we were doing our students a disservice, teaching them a craft that might, in the coming years, become obsolete.
Reassurance arrived in the form of work and evolution. He tells us to "dig," and "go out and seek the truth," and this becomes a consistent theme in his methodology. The days of the great gray lady are gone, but the need for quality and ethical journalism has never been greater. The work his reporters at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have done is brilliant, stories like "Chemical Fallout" are staggering in their insistence that true journalism is relevant, and is not going anywhere. The duty to inform the public is not one Kaiser takes lightly, quoting Thomas Jefferson and his belief that "our freedom depends on the press." This particular reference is especially apt for those of us who teach minority students. This will be a fine poster for the classroom wall to remind us (on the rough days) why we do this, this teaching thing.
We should walk away from Kaiser's presentation with a renewed sense of purpose, not only for our students, but for the world at large. What makes his message great is that he reminds us, while we may be dealing with issues concerning humanity, that all real news begins at home. He urges us, along with our young reporters to "get curious, and get caught loving our community." There is a world of stories out there. It is our charge to teach our students how to tell them better than the other guy.
Adam Haller
Northwestern High School
Baltimore, Md.
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