Attending college at Morehead State in Morehead, Ky. from 1959-1963, I completed Journalism I and Journalism II, and I wrote feature stories for the “Trailblazer,” the college newspaper.
I learned early on that events should be reported factually and that the inverted pyramid was important to keep in mind while writing news articles.
By presenting the reader with the most important facts first and preceding to render the next most important facts and so on until the least important facts are reported at the end of the article, the reporter can best communicate the story.
Never in my wildest dreams did I foresee the journalistic spin that would one-day jade journalism, reporters leaving out important facts of stories and ignoring covering important events. Nor, did I anticipate that editors would one day bury stories by placing them on the back page of newspapers or simply choose to ignore important news because the content was contrary to political agendas.
Unfortunately, since I earned my B.A. degree with a double major in English and physical education in 1963 and my M.A. degree in secondary education in 1965, both from MSU, journalism has suffered from those who embrace spin over accurate reporting of the facts.
While a column and an editorial present the journalist with the means of communicating opinions, neither should masquerade as news stories because the news should be reported void of the journalist’s opinions.
I find it disturbing that so many so-called journalists have rushed to judgment and reported on events that slant the news one way or another according to the political preference of those writing the stories.
Perhaps, journalists who have gone astray should receive a truth serum shot before they sit down to compose their stories. Creating a false narrative by editing video and reporting inaccurate information should not be tolerated by news media owners. However, some owners of media have proverbial “axes to grind” and political agendas to maintain.
Many false narratives have been perpetrated and perpetuated by journalists who lack the integrity to gather the facts and present them in an unbiased way.
Television journalists who gather news along with their cameramen are challenged by the editing process. Often a video that runs several minutes must be edited to fit a 30-second timeslot in order to fit the newscast.
I earned my MFA degree in theater arts from UCLA in 1980, and I majored in writing for television and motion pictures. One of the first things I learned about cameras is that cameras lie.
For example, the one behind the camera determines where to point the camera, and any camera is limited to its respective field of vision. That which is not captured on video may be extremely important for reporting the truth about the matter at hand.
Nick Sandmann, a senior at Covington Catholic High School, in Ky. who was 16 at the time, stood with his fellow classmates in Washington D.C. while they waited for their bus to pick them up.
Two marches took place that day, and Sandmann had participated in the March for Life. The other march was being conducted by Indigenous people, and Black Hebrew students confronted the CCHS students.
Nathan Philips who was participating in the Indigenous people’s march was beating a drum and approached Sandmann who was wearing a “Make America Great Again” cap. Sandmann stood his ground as Philips approached and stood close in front of Sandmann while beating his drum.
News media widely reported that Sandmann was the culprit who blocked Philips and smirked at the former member of the U.S. Marine Corps. TV reporters incorrectly presented Philips to the public as a “war hero” and a “Vietnam veteran.”
I learned that the cardinal rule of journalism is to get facts straight, and I taught my students that in journalism classes at Lewis County High School in Vanceburg, Ky. and at Alleghany County High School.
Lindsey Ward, one of my journalism students at ACHS, pursued a career in journalism, earning her B.S. degree in broadcast journalism from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond where she landed her first job as a tape editor for NBC-12. She worked her way up the ladder to the assignment desk.
Later on, she moved to Charlottesville where she worked at CBS 19/ABC 16/FOX 27 before moving to Roanoke where she has attained the anchor position at WSLS-TV virtual channel 10, an NBC affiliated TV station.
Both CNN and NBC wound up settling lawsuits for defamation filed by Sandmann’s lawyer, and Sandmann is now a millionaire at 18 who is attending Transylvania College in Ky.
The rush to judgment by the media and the editing of video footage that made Sandmann appear to be at fault resulted in a proverbial egg on the face of some reporters who did not delve into the facts before reporting the event in a way that branded Sandmann as a racist.
Had the reporters pursued the facts, they would have found that Philips joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves in 1972 and served in Neb. and Calif. till 1976, never having been deployed outside of the U.S.
Sandmann’s lawyer was successful in arranging an out-of-court settlement with CNN and agreed to settle the court case brought against NBC, resulting in a confidential amount that NBC agreed to pay Sandmann.
The cameramen recorded only part of Sandmann’s story, and the biased journalists made the fatal mistake of rushing to judgment. Not only did they report false information about the event that took place, but they dubbed Philips who was absent without leave three times during his four years in the Marine Corps Reserves as a “war hero” and a “Vietnam veteran.”
Apparently, reporters misconstrued what Philips told them when Philips said that he was a Vietnam-era veteran. The last U.S. Marines were brought home from Vietnam in 1971, a year before Philips signed up to serve.
The shoddy reporting that boosted Philips’ status from a former member of the Marine Corps Reserves who was never deployed outside the U.S. to “war hero” status is not only reprehensible but false, giving rise to the term, “fake news.”
As the editor of “Virginian Review,” I pledge to report facts accurately in the news stories that I write, limit my opinions to the editorials I compose and present entertaining and informative feature stories.
As for “Domain of No Spin,” the column that I plan to share with readers periodically, I hope the column will create a dialogue with readers who may become inspired to respond via e-mail, mrayallen@yahoo.com.
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