Last week I had the privilege of hosting a conference on campus of Student Publications Editors from the schools in the area. Although the numbers were small, the ideas shared throughout the day resonated within me. The main focus was on journalism and how we can increase in our knowledge of the art and how we do so without compromising our personal values and morals and remain in good standing as a publication. The idea of journalism gives me a scare, to say the least. We have just gone through an election where we have been bombarded with stories about who is doing what and how our country is going to be different now that we have a new government in power. To be honest, this turned me off of journalism because the overarching focus seemed to remain on the back-biting and mud-slinging that was going on throughout the campaign. And it was not just one source. Every paper had the same stories, each headline with their own twist. It did not seem to be an unbiased opinion. They were trying to get readers to believe what they had to say through this art that should be more benefit to us than the means of harm that it has become. The question arose, where is the journalism?

But there is hope. At this conference, we discussed how our faith plays into journalism on campus. It is hard to remain credible as Christians in this medium that requires “dirt” to survive. It’s become more politics than it has information. How do we look beyond the dirt and come out with a resource that is informative and useful for public knowledge? The main idea that came up was the idea of grace. It is one of the most precious gifts that we have been given as Christians, and one of the areas that has been abused the most.

News is required for people to remain informed about the goings on around the world. I guess it comes down to this: when reporting on news, there is a need to remember where we are coming from and why we are doing what we do.

* Originally published February 1, 2006 at http://voiceofebc.blogspot.com