Dan Gillmor, Knight Chair for digital media entrepreneurship, spoke to a group of high school journalism teachers at Arizona State University today on the topic of media and journalistic principles.
"There's no business in the world that gives so many awards," Gillmor said. "We should not give so many out."
Gillmor spoke on this issue of demand and if there is too much media out there. He asked, 'What is journalism?' when everyone is a journalist.
"So much out there, and so much of it is garbage," Gillmor said.
Gillmor offered advice to help teachers teach their students about credibility. He put up a scale to show where anonymous sources fell compared to BBC.
"I also tell people to ask their own questions," Gillmor said. "Especially when making big decisions."
With credibility, Gillmor went to the Wikipedia website. This is a common struggle with students to understand why this is not always the best site to use for information.
"This site is the best place to start and the worst place to stop."
Gillmor suggested students read more than one source for information. He also said to use free thinking by going outside your comfort zone, especially in politics. One site he mentioned to help broaden our perspective is "Global Voices."
Gillmor ended his session with journalistic principles: thoroughness, accuracy, fairness, independence and most importantly, transparency. These principles are the goal journalism should aim for but misses sometimes.
Kat Gurganus
Keller High School
Keller, Texas
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