Thursday, June 25, 2009

Unsavory reporting requires courage: an example of a student journalist who uncovered the unsavory

During Tom Blodgett's session on sportswriting, he said that it takes courage to uncover unsavory stuff, especially due to Hazelwood. He also said that courage, more than intelligence, makes a good journalist.

One story I like to share with my journalism students is about a high school journalist who did some serious investigative reporting and discovered that the military in his area encouraged recruits to fabricate documents. Posing as a potential recruit, David McSwane taped conversations and wrote a story revealing the truth. The story was picked up by CBS, and soldiers were suspended from recruiting. CBS called the story "How far will army recruiters go?"

This is a great story for inspiring journalists and for generating discussion. It also brings up ethics and law regarding taping sources.

Jill Bhowmik
Granite Hills High School
El Cajon, Calif.

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