2021 Michigan Journalist of the Year Portfolio
News Literacy
Squashing Sensationalism
In times of great fear and uncertainty, the needs of the moment will always be met by society's most gracious and selfless individuals. And yet, at the same time, too often will others use the chaos of the unknown to instill paranoia and disunity into the general public.
Even as a local publication, The Tower knows all too well of the dangers of sensationalist sentiments, often materializing over community message-boards and Facebook groups. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and the abrupt closure of all K-12 schools throughout the state of Michigan, the need to dissolve misinformation while still honoring the voices of the community was our top priority as a staff.
As the rising Associate Editor, I oversaw the publication of an entirely virtual issue of The Tower-- the first of many-- complete with eight full pages of fact-based COVID-19 content in under just one week.
These are the issues that remind me as a journalist not of my role, but of my duty to the community I live in to serve as a vessel through which the truth can thrive.
Dissecting Difficult Topics
Like any strong publication, The Tower is no stranger to uncomfortable, awkward, or difficult-to-approach topics. The Tower achieves the successful coverage of such topics by staying true to two main principles.
The first is our genuine approach. As the Supervising Editor-at-Large overseeing the publication of the Sex Education issue, I could almost foresee the swarm of angry parent emails and Facebook comments when the issue was published-- and I encouraged our staff to lean into that criticism.
That is not to be misconstrued as us leaning into being provocative or reactionary, but rather accepting the backlash of a few to the genuine benefit of many. With health class being an optional credit in high school-- easily waived with the additional language or art class-- the deficit in our school's health education program was not just unfortunate-- it was life-threatening.
Although our point of entry relied on humor (who doesn't love a good '90s reference?) and eye-catching visuals, the content itself was diverse and authentic. In remaining mature and objective, The Tower succeeded in publishing an issue that not many parents may have wanted, but many students truly needed.
Our second principle is genuine relevance. By covering the topics that carry real weight within the lives of our readers, the more difficult corners of our publication are opportunities for self-improvement.
Over the course of my time as a member of The Tower's leadership team, our staff has tackled a wide variety of articles pertaining to the city of Grosse Pointe's predominantly white citizenry, and how the institution's proximity to Detroit and historical treatment of non-white students impacts the educational experience of South's BIPOC student body today.
As a white journalist and editor, I must ensure that the content The Tower produces does not blindly appeal to the majority.
Because if a publication fails to embody the diversity of the world in which it is allowed to thrive, the publication fails to achieve its most basic purpose: to report on the unadulterated truth.