Make Yourself Unique

Mike Williams, the station manager of WDHD Channel 7 of Boston, has spent more than a handful of years working his way up the ladder of professional success. “The only limits you have in this business are the ones you place on yourself,” said Williams. As I spent time touring the news station in downtown Boston, I met and conversed with people from all areas of production and if there is one thing I learned, it is that hard work and creativity equals success. In order to stand out and make an impression in the field of journalism, you have to make an effort and be unique, Williams said.

An interesting idea that Williams raised was the idea that broadcast stations are becoming obsolete and outdated. “We don’t believe that in the long run there will be very many news stations," he said, stating that cost is rising and viewership is waning, and that will put many stations out of business in the future. If this is true, online publications are even more important. Nearly six-in-ten Americans younger than 30 say they get their national and international news online. Since I’m such a verification junkie, this idea impresses the fact of how important online news really is, and how it must follow the elements of journalism if it needs to be the truth if it is going to empower the public with knowledge.

So, taking Mike Williams’ advice to heart, I’ve decided that in addition to blogging about verification, I am also going to post about my work. Right now, I’m taking the time to introduce my latest project. From October 19 until November 7, 2009, Gordon College will be hosting Dr. Is-haq Akintola, it’s first ever Fulbright scholar. Dr. Atkintola focuses his studies on the peaceful teachings of Islam and he is the associate professor of Islamic studies at Lagos State University in Nigeria, a country where tensions have risen sharply between Christians and Muslims in the past decade.

As a college communications worker at Gordon, I have been assigned to be Dr. Akintola’s point person. I will be following him to his different lectures and events and keeping tabs on the issues and topics that arise on a daily basis, the questions posed, and the community’s reactions and responses. I plan on using my Fulbright assignment and Becoming Lois Lane as a tangible way to expose and delve more deeply into the elements and ethics of journalism. The first of which being, how does one cover a story like this?

Stay tuned. . .