The power of a question

Keith Woods (second from left) talks to Scholars (from left) Jose San Mateo, Erica Walters and Jeannette Ceja. (Photo by Sam Kittner)

Seattle, my hometown, for all of its progressive “do-gooderness,” is not exactly what one could call diverse. At times, it makes for awkward conversation, resulting more from a lack of dialogue as opposed to malignant opinions. Still, the precipitate is a lack of understanding. This is why I found the lecture by Keith Woods, dean of faculty at The Poynter Institute, valuable. Asking the question “why did you say that?,” as opposed to assuming why someone said it; thinking about the context and history of a situation, especially when race and gender are involved; and acting with tact before saying it are a few simple ideas for improved understanding.

Reinforcing optimism

Tell Romenesko to shut up. One of the big ironies in print journalism is that print journalists are frequently referring to the Romenesko blog—a blog, part of the new media—to receive news of dying or downsizing print newspapers. And while Romenesko doesn't do much more than merely relay the facts, the blog can be sobering. A former professor of mine, who is also an assistant managing editor at The Seattle Times (a newspaper Romenesko recently reported to be downsizing), said he simply stopped reading Romenesko. It was too depressing.
Yesterday's lectures on the new-medium thrusts of journalism were reinforcing. Or, at least, the lectures tempered the gloom a young reporter gets when all the veteran journalists he has worked with tell him to get out of the business and go to law school while it's still an option.