Journalist, Meet Activist

By Kate Sheppard, October 16, 2006

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The editor of one campus magazine offers concrete advice on how to work with both trained journalists and outspoken activists, in a single publication.

Journalists are the people who have been trained to write articles, the ones who can look objectively at a story and produce something that renders no opinion. Activists are those who bring their biases and opinions to their writing, and can't be relied on to tell a complete story. Or so the assumption goes.

After spending three years as an editor for an independent college magazine, the intersection between journalism and activism is very interesting for me. I was one of a number of editors for Ithaca College's Buzzsaw Haircut, which has an open door policy, allowing anyone who wants to write for us to do so. Many of us became friends through the anti-war movement on campus, and all of the editors have a clear vision of the magazine as a vehicle to fight apathy, complacency, racism, sexism, and economic injustice, which I think is true for many of the leaders of independent campus publications who are driven by ideals higher than a monthly byline. But because of this we have also faced many questions about how to ensure that we meet high journalistic standards while incorporating as many voices as possible.

Most journalism professors make a clear distinction between journalists and everyone else. Questioning this delineation may have been the reason I was called a Communist by a professor in Journalism 101, but, for those of us running campus alternative publications, the distinction between activist and journalist just isn't so clear nor, we believe, should it be. In fact, many independent campus publications publish the work of students who bring with them a variety of backgrounds and experience -- the things that that drove them to want to write in the first place.

At Buzzsaw, we operate under the principle that alternative campus media should give students a public forum in which to discuss issues that are important to them and to share information concerning the things they're passionate about. By widening the definition of who can be a journalist and breaking down the barriers between the "audience" and the producers of media, we engage the public in a dialogue that serves their interests and needs. We step outside the premise of reporting objectively as an unaffected third party and, with many campus issues, we examine them as stakeholders in the common good. Here are a few bits of advice I've gathered from trying to make working with bout activists and journalists work for us.

1. Invite everyone into the tent
Making good on a commitment to a diversity of voice means you have to bring in more than just the usual media-oriented kids. Our writers consist of both regulars and one-time contributors-totaling more than 100 people last year alone. We start each year by hosting a big, open meeting for anyone interested in the publication. This lets people meet the editors and get involved in the magazine early. Another important first step is to reach out directly to student groups. Go to their meetings and let them know that you're open to publishing articles and commentary from group members. Talk to them about your goals and expectations for your publication. Students who are already involved in cool groups or causes are more likely to be good, productive contributors and have important things to say. Attending these meetings will also keep you on top of what's going on at your school.

2. Train people to write strong stories, no matter what their background might be
Once you have recruited an amazing array of talent, it's up to you as an editor to make sure that everyone's writing and reporting skills are at the level your publication requires. We host mini-training sessions for all writers. This can include a few basic lessons on how to find sources, contact people, conduct interviews, and organize your material. This will help writers coming from an activist background to branch out from straight opinion pieces. And these trainings will give you a forum in which to reinforce the importance of research and reporting to all your writers-something you may have to drive home to non-traditional journalists.

3. Nurture your writers
A student-run campus publication is a learning experience for everyone, so keeping a rolling conversation about the practice of journalism is important for progress as a publication. We're all learning, and being open to conversations about what to cover and how to cover it is important for the editors, staff writers and contributors alike. Talking to your writers and contributors is important to understanding their beliefs and writing process, and will help you develop a working relationship. This is one of the many reasons we meet with our writers individually at least once a week -- it allows us to guide them and watch their progress, too.

4. Provide resources
When you meet with writers, suggest reading materials and point them toward professors and other experts who know more about the topic they're covering. Ask for at least three interviews for every article, and encourage writers to talk to people from a range of backgrounds on the subject, since there are never really just two sides to a story. Ask them questions that might arise for readers, and direct them toward the journalistic resources we all rely on, like ProfNet.com, switchboard.com and Lexis-Nexis. Providing other support, like tape recorders and a long-distance plan, also improves the quality of articles.

5. Watch out for conflicts of interest
Keeping an open dialogue with your contributors also helps you to stay aware of conflicts of interest, which is important to sustaining your credibility. If someone is organizing a rally, for example, it's not the best idea to let that person cover it as a straight news story. You might want to welcome that contributor to write some sort of op-ed about it, though. And if a writer does have a potential conflict of interest, we are always upfront with our readers, describing their exact involvement or history with the issue at hand. It's important to disclose that to your readers, who can decide for themselves what they want to take away from it. One way to do this is by putting short bios at the end of articles that include the writer's major, and affiliations. This lets people know where they're coming from, rather than pretending like their background doesn't exist.

6. Fact check
Probably the best way to keep both standards and involvement high is to make fact-checking a priority. Every statistic, name, and date should be checked (by someone other than the writer) against other sources to make sure they match up. Our younger staff members handle the fact checking, which helps them develop critical thinking skills and gets them involved in the editing process. Every article should be reviewed thoroughly, because if something is wrong, misquoted, or out-of-date, it reflects poorly on the publication. We learned this stuff the hard way, after we had to devote an entire page to the "We Fucked Up" section one month.

There are reasons that activists and journalists haven't always worked together -- for one, it takes a lot of work to bridge informing, involving, and inspiring an audience. And there will always be complex ethical and operational questions that arise from this. These tensions, though, are important for your publication to address, and keeping an open dialogue with your editors, staff writers, and contributors is really the only way to figure out how these dynamics can work.

Kate Sheppard spent three years as an editor for Buzzsaw Haircut, Ithaca College's award-winning student magazine. She is now an editorial intern at Grist Magazine in Seattle, a contributor for WireTap, and a freelance writer.