
When I started at The Cord in 2011 as a quiet sports writer, the first rule my editors taught me was ingrained in my mind.
Be impartial.
As a student at Wilfrid Laurier University, of course I wanted to support my school in any way I could. But as a journalist, you must be critical and analyze every move of the players and coaches. If they played shitty, you reported that they played shitty. Your job isnโt to spin a positive story, and you sure as hell donโt cheer for the team.
Five years later, after covering far too many regular season games, a few dozen playoff matches and three national championships, Iโve become critical beyond compare, wondering how each move will affect the team. Itโs translated into my news reporting, analyzing the administration and Wilfrid Laurier University Studentsโ Unionโs plans, moves and words to be the best journalist I can.
Itโs what weโre taught: a good journalist has a critical eye.
But this doesnโt seem to translate to all members of the journalism community. When Iโm in press boxes, fellow student journalists are clapping, cheering on their respective schoolโs football team as if theyโre cheerleaders. There is no analyzing statistics or questioning the play the coach called โ rather, itโs mumbling under their breath, โgo team go.โ
Iโm all for being supportive of your school. Of course Iโm happy when Laurierโs teams make it far. Not only is it great coverage, but itโs fun and exciting to see such an exhilarating moment impact the culture of a university.
But as a student journalist hoping to make it in this industry, itโs hard to watch other student journalists act as part-time cheerleaders and donโt at least ruffle the feathers of their schoolโs public relations department.
Good journalism, regardless ofย whether itโs at the student or professional level, starts with good, objective coverage. Considering both sides is necessary so that bias doesnโt impact the readerโs experience. Regardless of whether you are writing about sports, news, arts or health, objectivity is the main component of journalism. Donโt be afraid to be critical of what youโre covering. It makes your work stand out and gives you an opportunity to look beyond the โra ra teamโ that surrounds you every day.
Besides, no one respects a writer without a spine.
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