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by bentleycl from Columbia

Last Post 27 days, 18 hours Ago


Journalism in a heartbeat
Oct 9, 2007 | 3:02 PM
Category: News
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I’ve admired Oh Yeonho since the day I heard his credo: “Every citizen is a reporter.” But today he gave me a new mantra I think better describes the type of journalist I most admire:

“Your heart must beat.”

Oh, founder of OhMyNews and arguably the modern citizen journalism movement, was at the Missouri School of Journalism this week to receive a Missouri Honor Medal for his distinguished work in our field.With the Master

I was very happy to see him and not just to return the hospitality he offered me when I spoke at the OhMyNews International Citizen Reporters Forum in 2005. I also teach the first and maybe still the only university citizen journalism course that staffs and viable community Web site. This was a very rare chance for my students to meet with the man who literally wrote the book.

Oh lectured to several classes but met with my students informally. They had the chance to discuss with him the challenges all of us who work in citizen journalism face.

We went through all the expected topics from credibility to economics to logistics. But the key comment came at the end of our discussion when I asked him what advice he would give to someone hoping for a 21st century career in journalism.

“Your heart must beat.”

The roughness of his English produced pure poetry. Oh wanted us to know that journalism requires much more than skills in spelling, grammar and note-taking. It requires passion. Your heart must beat with the excitement of life, the excitement of humanity.

I spent the bulk of my career learning and then teaching journalists to stifle their heartbeat. Unbiased journalism requires dispassionate reporting. We try to be Spock in a world full of mercurial Kirks.

But the man from Korea asked us to shed our pointed ears. He also knows that trick is no easier metaphorically than it is physically. As he proudly pointed out, OhMyNews did not get its title from the founder’s name. It is instead an exclamation – like “Oh my God!"  It speaks volumes about the new role of everyday people in the world of information.

And it makes my heart beat.

Clyde Bentley

3 Comments |  Add a Comment

Member Comments Total Comments: 3
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jeanette read my blog view my photos
Oct 9, 2007 | 3:22 PM

Cool.
mr_wildflower read my blog view my photos
Oct 9, 2007 | 8:59 PM

Passion is needed for sure... Human interest.. creativity and a dash of Sex....lol
Weird read my blog view my photos
Oct 10, 2007 | 1:43 PM

You must believe in what you are writing about or it will look and sound like an English assignment. In this same vein, you must also research what you may think is truth and often you will find that it isn`t quite as truthful as you thought. Then, considering people`s shortening attention spans, driven by the need for instany gratification, brevity is also neccesary evil to contend with. After all that you have to add the standards, Who, What, Where, When and Why, along with trying to add your own personal touch to give what you have written your own DNA, recognition of your style and substance. Lastly you need an audience.
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bentleycl

I'm an online-media professor at the Missouri School of Journalism. But I'm also a granddad, a letterboxer and an inept woodworker. I spent some time in the MyFox STL office and became hooked on the MyFox blogs. So here I am, sort of the voice of journalism with a big J. I'll take your criticism or answer your questions about the news, the media system or journalism of the future. If you are into the theoretical end of blogging, check my professional blog at http://thecyberbrains.com
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Member Since: 5/25/2007


 

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