Don Meyers Lecture

Don Meyers, a reporter from the Salt Lake Tribune, was our class' guest speaker this week. He had so many neat stories from his experiences as a reporter. He reported on the Crandall Canyon mine disaster of 2007, when three men were trapped in killed in a coal mine collapse. It was a sobering story, especially with the 33 trapped Chileans fresh on everyone's minds. But  this clip offered a humorous relief. It illustrates CEO Robert Murray's quick defense and anger over the "retreat mining" assumptions. Of course, he becomes so wrapped up in telling reporters what he wasn't doing in the mines, that he forgets to answer the real question: what kind of mining was he doing in Crandall Canyon!

Meyers also talked about minimizing harm to those mentioned or effected by your story. It is important to think each source and party that your story mentions. A journalist's loyalty to the citizens includes, above all, those mentioned in the article. I believe this is an aspect of journalism that many people look over. It becomes especially prevalent during these times of war, wartime stories and government secrets dominate the press. Though it is important for the public to be informed of the war, it is also important to protect our American soldiers who are risking their lives overseas, and the citizens and tourists who could all be potentially harmed by tourists. No wonder "loyalty" and "truth" can be such confusing principles!



Finally, here's my favorite "Don Meyers" quote:

"Journalists are storytellers at heart, plus historians with a sense of justice."

I love his descriptions of journalists! I may just use it in our "magnet" project, it's my favorite journalism quote by far.