Journalistic purpose- renewed inspiration from words of wisdom

Sure, it’s important that we learned a lot of “technical, journalistic stuff” this week, but it’s just as important that we were inspired and recharged. I was incredibly grateful that all of our presenters, speakers, and instructors truly understand that educators (specifically journalism educators) make a difference. It was refreshing to hear encouragement, recognition and praise for all that we do. I was also inspired to know that journalism influences community and that it matters in all forms. Here are a few stand-out quotes from a few men who are ‘kind of a big deal’:

Steve Elliott-  

“Good story ideas are not all around you. Bad, vague story ideas are all around you.”

“If journalism is dying, why this?”

Chris Callahan-

 We want “young people who are passionate about journalism, community, and life. That raw material - that’s gold.”

We want students “who can understand the power and importance of journalism in their community. I like to see optimism and enthusiasm.”

“We don’t spend enough time on the story idea. People aren’t going to care about it unless it impacts them in a significant way.”

“We take our charge of creating and promoting journalism very seriously and broadly.”

“We consider you a part of the Cronkite family from this point forward.”

Mike Sauceda

“We try to reach out to people and figure out what’s going on, what matters. We don’t want to operate blindly.”

“I feel proud we are doing something substantial.”

Peter Bhatia

“There’s a renaissance for news right now.”

“There should be a required media literacy class in high schools.” 

Andrea Lyons

Marietta High

Marietta, GA