The Nevada Sagebrush

Fifteen of the top journalists and educators in the country traveled to the University Nevada, Reno last week for the second annual Journalism Week. Journalists, students and professors held several different discussion forums about in the Reynolds School of Journalism and the Joe Crowley Student Union Theater.RSJ professors Edward Lenert and Larry Dailey organized the event.

“The main themes discussed were technology, ethics and the future of journalism,”Lenert said. “It was a very successful week with lots of positive feedback from the students and the journalism week guests.”

One of the guests who spoke about journalism and technology was keynote speaker Ken Paulson, editor and senior vice president of USA Today. Students and faculty gathered Wednesday at 2 p.m. in the theater at The Joe to hear his speech about “Rebooting America News for a New Generation.”

Paulson said he believes the future is bright for journalists.

“Newspapers are looking for young reporters who are smart, energetic, and people that are comfortable with multimedia,”Paulson said. “The future is bright for journalists.”

Paulson gave out autographs, words of encouragement and advice to students after his speech.

Throughout the week, others held discussions to talk about journalism practices.

Patrick Sloyan, a Pulitzer Prize-winner, discussed “Spot News”at a session on March 4. Sloyan began with his report of the JFK assassination and the media frenzy that followed. He also covered a variety of topics from ethics to joys of journalism.

“Every day you meet someone new, learn something new, go wherever you want; stories broaden you as a writer,”Sloyan said. “There are better opportunities this day and age for young reporters.”

Justin Lawson, a journalism student who attended both Paulson and Sloyan’s sessions, said he enjoyed both Paulson and Sloyan’s presentations.

“Paulson’s speech had a lot of spice, and Patrick Sloyan’s speech was also very interesting with his stories about the JFK assassination,”said Lawson, 26, a prep-beat sports writer for the Reno Gazette- Journal.

Journalism Week also brought out Rachel Swarns, a Washington, D.C. correspondent for The New York Times. Swarns spoke about immigration Tuesday night in the theater at The Joe .

“Immigration is the hottest domestic issue in the country,”Swarns said. “There are 33 million foreign residents in this country today. Places like Atkinson County in Georgia are being affected by immigration that have never been affected before.”

Swarns attended another meeting earlier Tuesday in the RSJ Linn Reading Room. Due to fewer attendees, Swarns was able to give one-on-one feedback to students about newsroom diversity and life as a journalist.

“In journalism it’s about getting to see the world in ways others cannot,”Swarns said. “It’s an active job and can be disruptive to personal life because of the unpredictable nature of the job.”

Many other journalists could also be seen last week, including Pulitzer Prize-winner Renee Byer, broadcast consultant Marilyn Pittman and Sacramento Bee visuals and productions editor Mark Morris. A complete list of speakers can be found at jweek08.wordpress.com

Students can go to
journalism.unr.edu/classes/jweek08 to leave their thoughts on journalism week.

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