Abbi Telander
Journalism is an important part of any society. Journalism and news allow for the general public to be educated on world problems. The Internet, watching the news, and newspapers are some of the sources society tends to look toward when things happen in the world to find out more information. Especially at college, it is hard to find a solid source for news whether that be because lack of good cable TV or you don’t get the newspaper every day. When President George Bush made the decision to invade Iraq after the 9/11 attacks, the Concordian became more involved on campus and got public opinion to help shape their news stories.
During 2003, two years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America, President Bush decided to go to war in Iraq. The reason for Bush’s decision to go to war was that Iraq had ties to Al Qaeda, the terrorist group who was responsible for the 9/11 attacks, and they thought they were hiding weapons of mass destruction. (1) The students on Campus, especially those who worked at the Concordian, became more involved with the current events and expanded what they did at the newspaper. “The different part about newspaper business is that not only are you responding to the event, you are also responding to competition,” and they saw this decision to go to war as a perfect event to become more effective in their writings. (2) Abbi Telander, who was a former Cobber and an editor for the Concordian, elaborated on some of the things they did to increase their effectiveness as reporters. Newspapers are primarily used to inform and educated people about local, national, and even world affairs that are happening. During this time, according to Telander, the Internet was down so the only source they had to obtain this news on campus was through the television which many of the students didn’t have. (3) So the students felt like they were obligated to inform the students of Concordia College about the decision and their opinions on the decision. They decided to get a variety of perspectives from the president of the college and many people on campus as well.
During the Bush’s decision to invade Iraq, the students at the Concordian did not decide to only get the campus involved, they also decided to get the community more involved in their articles. They asked student opinions about how they felt about the decision and they allowed them to have a voice. The same goes for the community and their opinions as well. During this time the newspaper couldn’t rely on electronic media, there for they turned to local opinions to use as their source. Telander said right as the decision was made they were on the phones right away, “calling everyone they could think of in the community.” “As with any small newsroom, phone calls from the community are part of the news chain,” (4). Doing this allowed them to get more of a community opinion as well as the student’s opinion on George Bush’s decision to invade Iraq.
Journalism is an important part of any society especially after a world event that happens. A college newspaper is an important source for not only campus news, but for world news as well. Being a credible newspaper is important no matter what level of newspaper it is. Involving not only the students around campus and also people around the local community allowed for more sources that allowed for a more accurate opinion in the newspaper. After Bush’s decision to invade Iraq the Concordian became more of a hard hitting newspaper. In this process they got to involve more of the community and campus in their writings.
Essay by Abigail Haraldson
Footnotes
- Norton, Mary Beth. A People and A Nation, Volume II: Since 1865 (Brief Tenth Edition). Stamford, CT, USA: Cengage Learning, 2015. Print. Pg 863.
- Lauterer, Jock. Community Journalism : Relentlessly Local (3rd Edition). Chapel Hill, NC, USA: University of North Carolina Press, 2006. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 8 December 2014. Pg 119.
- Telander, Abbi, oral history interview conducted by Gabby Gardner, Oct. 11, 2014.
- Lauterer, Jock. Community Journalism. Chapel Hill, NC, 2006. Pg 118.