Social Justice Journalism

Journalism professor Tom Mullen has always been interested in the role journalism plays in society and its potential to influence people. While he feels that some of the criticism that is heaped on the media these days is valid, he still believes in the power of good journalism, particularly in exposing social issues.

He set out to teach his students by designing a course that would allow them to experience contemporary issues firsthand. With help from the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement’s (CCE) faculty fellowship program, he was able to create a community-based learning (CBL) course.

“I think the key to a CBL course is actively engaging in some aspect of a community organization, learning from that experience, and then demonstrating what you’ve learned by making a contribution back to the community,” Mullen says.

For students in Civic Journalism and Social Justice, Mullen hoped to demonstrate how journalism can function as an instrument of social justice through consistent and reliable reporting on issues that impact a community. The course focused on issues of racial justice, poverty, elder care, treatment of health-related problems, workplace safety, and treatment of people on the margins of society. Students read the newspaper daily, along with a range of other publications and texts that delved into the impact that journalism has on social issues.

The primary semester assignment asked students to write feature stories based on interviews with clients of the Elder Friends and CHIP programs of Family Lifeline, a local organization that assists families during critical stress points. Family Lifeline will use the articles to raise the profile of their organization and inspire volunteers and donors to become more involved.

To prepare the students for their interviews, staff members from Family Lifeline visited the class to talk about the services they provide and the issues their clients are facing, such as poverty, abuse, and neglect. They role-played different client personalities, which allowed the students to practice interacting with someone whose situation was unfamiliar to them. Staff members emphasized the need to respect an individual’s dignity and not pass judgment on them or their situation.

While students in the course were initially apprehensive about meeting and interviewing their subjects, most say they were transformed by the experience. “I left the interview feeling grateful for the opportunity to meet this woman and hear her story,” says Megan Haggerty, ’15. “Having me listen meant a lot to her and having her share meant a lot to me.” Class discussions took on a whole new meaning as students were able to share firsthand experiences.

Mullen believes the experience of engaging in the community has benefits well beyond the scope of his class. “I believe their future work in journalism and other fields has been enriched through direct contact with issues and elements in society that they had little or no exposure to before,” he says.

Haggerty already sees the impact of the experience on her own perspectives. “I learned the power of telling one individual’s personal story and relating it to a much larger issue,” she says. “As readers, we often get caught up in statistics, but when we hear the story of an individual’s suffering, a greater emotional response is provided for the larger picture.”