Mid Term Reflection

My understanding of journalism has changed since the beginning of the semester. When I signed up for this class, I had no idea it would be a journalism history course. I didn't really bother reading the description of the class, I just knew that I wanted to take a journalism class to help me decide if I wanted to minor in journalism. Now, the choice is clear. 

History is one of my favorite things to learn about, and tying it with my passion for writing and learning has made every Thursday exciting. 

We started the semester with the six freedoms of the First Amendment: freedom of and from religion,  freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of petition, and freedom of speech. Although I knew our rights encapsulated in the First Amendment, I felt like this was a foundation to establish the key role of a journalist: to act as a check on the government. 

We discussed that in order to perform this role, we need an adversarial press, or the idea that the press should never act as an arm of the government. The press has always been against the government, (until 24-hour cable news, anyway) not doing their bidding. In this recitation, Professor Dean Smith emphasized that it is not the press's job to keep the government's secrets; rather, it is vitally important that the press reveal those secrets- that is part of their adversarial role. 

Scanning through my notes, I can't help but notice the Zone of Autonomy triangle for journalists. This triangle has been one of my main takeaways from the course. As shown in the image on the left, the points of the triangle mark the clauses in the First Amendment, but it actually explains that the government can impact events outside of the triangle, but cannot mess with the inside. It's protection from the government. 

I also loved when we created a timeline tracing the colonial press era to the high modern era, charting our first paper to the rise of 24-hour cable news. Understanding the early history of journalism actually helped me understand the importance of journalism more, especially with early papers such as the Boston Newsletter and important figures like James Franklin. 

This course has not only deepened my understanding of journalism’s history but also solidified my decision to pursue a minor in journalism. The connection of history, writing, and the critical role of the press in society has made this class both enlightening and inspiring. I’m excited to see how these insights will shape my future studies and my perspective of the world.