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Posted by Robert Case
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Founder of World Journalism Institute
For Article: Sending letters, memos or links to Romenesko
Posted by
Robert Case
4/6/2004 2:07:11 PM
Lest Prof. Mattingly's misunderstanding gain credence, the founder of the World Journalism Institute was, is and will always be - me. Not Dr. Ola...
Lest Prof. Mattingly's misunderstanding gain credence, the founder of the World Journalism Institute was, is and will always be - me. Not Dr. Olasky. Marvin was a part of the original discussions, but I was the organizing and founding director and have always enjoyed complete freedom in personnel and curriculum matters. I report directly to Joel Belz who reports to our board of directors. I have a number of guest teachers who disagree with some of what is contained in Olasky's book and teach such disagreements. However, charity reigns in those disagreements, as is fitting.
Robert Case
Director
World Journalism Institute
The "big question" for WJI
For Article: Sending letters, memos or links to Romenesko
Posted by
Robert Case
4/5/2004 4:55:48 PM
Terry Mattingly suggests that the World Journalism Institute is exclusively on the side of "advocacy journalism," while the mainstream practices...
Terry Mattingly suggests that the World Journalism Institute is exclusively on the side of "advocacy journalism," while the mainstream practices only "objective" reporting and writing. This assertion seems to miss a most exciting dimension of journalism education. There has always been—and Mr. Mattingly knows this as well as anyone—a vibrant tension between "advocacy" and "objective" by all thinking journalists. Bringing that tension into an ethical balance is not just the work of journalist who are Christians (like Mattingly, Olasky, World Journalism Institute, and others) but mainstreamers as well. Advocacy or civic journalism is being hotly debated in our profession.
But more to the point, Mr. Mattingly asks whether WJI will "cut its ties" to Marvin Olasky's book, "Telling the Truth," admittedly a book which advances what Olasky calls "biblical objectivity" as a paradigm for the journalist of faith. At the Institute our required journalism texts are Zinsser's On Writing Well, (we formerly used Rich's Writing and Reporting News) and Brady's The Craft of Interviewing. We use Olasky's book along with Franklin's Writing for Story and Blundell's The Art and Craft of Feature Writing. So our response is No, because—like any good school—we want to look at all the evidence, and not rule anything out of bounds. As Terry knows, many of our teachers have disagreements with Dr. Olasky's work and they are free to teach what they think is important for these aspiring journalists to know. Such an open-minded approach is precisely why WJI graduates are being welcomed as competent, fair, balanced and truth-telling reporters for mainstream newspapers across the country.
Prof. Mattingly runs a fine institute of journalism for aspiring Christian college journalists in May in Washington, DC and he and I have discussed this topic before. He knows because I have repeatedly told him that WJI is not captive to any one school of journalistic thought.
World Journalism Institute
For Article: Sending letters, memos or links to Romenesko
Posted by
Robert Case
4/2/2004 3:07:34 PM
The World Journalism Institute has recently come under criticism in some blog quarters concerning its mission statement and its rationale for exi...
The World Journalism Institute has recently come under criticism in some blog quarters concerning its mission statement and its rationale for existence. The criticism has been directed towards the wording in our mission statement that suggests the Institute seeks to train Christian journalists to bend the news to fit a preconceived (presupposed) worldview shaped by the Bible, and then to send those propagandists into the mainstream newsrooms as agents (cadre) of Christianity. The criticism, while unpleasant, is on target given that particular mission statement. The justly criticized mission statement was written in l998 and l999 and posted by me. It was artlessly written and then mostly forgotten until the last couple of weeks when the Jack Kelley investigation was concluded. Jack had been scheduled as one of our luncheon speakers, and so the connection was made by some. And then the fun began. My poor guest teachers, members in good standing of the working press, lent their fine names and reputations to the Institute to help instruct college-age aspiring journalists who are Christian. These friends were blindsided as they were caught up in unfair criticism due to my sloppiness in wording. While we never discussed philosophic views or practices of journalism, the overwhelming majority of my guest teachers would repudiate advocacy journalism as legitimate for mainstream reporters. I know that we at the Institute do. If anyone is interested in our revised mission statement, written as a result of the blog criticism, one can go to "Why we exist" on our web page at www.worldji.com. I remain apologetic to all my esteemed colleagues who have been attacked due to my confused and imprecise wording.
Bob Case
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