On Wednesday, October 24, John Eligon, an award winning writer from the New York Times spoke in the Schwab Auditorium. Throughout his hour long speech, he eventually told two stories. The first story was about how he was chosen to report and cover an article about racism and neo-navi activist in Germany. Then he began to transition into racism in American and expressed his experience in reporting and covering in Ferguson, Missouri. With this being said, Eligon strongly believes racism is still alive around the world.
Throughout Eligon’s lecture, I began to take out some key ethical points he kept addressing. Since he believes racism is still very much alive around the world, he emphasized how important it is to let the sources (quotes, pictures, videos, etc.) tell your story and not you yourself, even if you have strong opinions on the topic you are covering. Secondly, he brings up how people across America are caught up in racial prejudges and how some people use them to their own advantage. Both of these ethical situations are complex and there is no correct answer on what to do, but Eligon expresses what he did and why.
As remained above, Eligon addresses how important it is to let the sources tell and dictate the story. I thought this was a very good point because it is important to get quotes naturally and not aim to get a specific quote. In his lecture, Eligon is able to back up this point by talking about his experience in Germany and more specially his experience at a Neo-Nazi festival during the summer. Since he was chosen to cover this story and go to this festival, Eligon from the beginning was expecting to see white supremacist. According to www.americanhistory.amdigital, The United States has a much longer history with African Americans than other countries, such as Germany. With this being said, racism may be prevalent in the United States, but it is much more prevalent in countries that had little African contacts in their past. Furthermore, the interesting thing is, whenever he asked people if they were racist they would look at his and say they were not. However, Eligon revealed an important journalism tool that he used to get information and true feeling out of people. Eligon says that when you first meet someone they are not going to give you too much information. With this being said, he emphasizes how important it is to get to know the person you are interviewing because they will begin to open up to you. As a result, Eligon asked the same question towards the end of their interview and the man did say he was racist at this point. Of course he tries to back himself up and says that “there have been over one-million refuguees and immigrants that have come into Germany in just a few years. I don’t feel welcome if I don’t look like everyone around me.” Eligon was able to get to know his sources and let the German man open up. As a result, the quote created his story and didn’t let his own opinions dictate the story, which is essential in proper journalism.
The second ethical point that Eligon addresses is how some people are prejudice towards others. Of course this is a bad thing and does not benefit society in any way. However, journalist are able to use this to their advantage at times. For example, Eligon brings up how he traveled to Ferguson, Missouri to cover Michael Brown Jr.’s death. Michael Brown Jr. was an eighteen year old African American who was shoot to death by a white police officer. When Eligon was covering the case he was getting all of the information he needed. However, when he talked to his white colleagues, they were saying that nobody was talking to them and they didn’t want them there. I thought this was interesting because it shows that it truly is important and it does dictate the story based on who is covering it. According to africanamericancommunities.amdigital, there have been numerous instances where witnesses and first responders did not want to give information to white journalist, but they did give information to journalist of other races. With all of this being said, it is clear that people do make assumptions based on what you look like, even though all of the information is going to end up being published regardless.
Attending John Eligon’s lecture taught me many important things about journalism that I did not know before. Racism is very much still alive around the world, and it is important to write about it to spread awareness. I believe that is one reason why racism is still prevalent, for people think it is a thing of the past, so no one is doing anything to prevent it. By writing about racial events, such as the Neo-Nazi Festival in Germany or how African American journalist were given access to information in Ferguson, Missouri, I believe people around the world will become more aware of racism in their communities. As a result, more people will be able to identify racial inequalities and stop them before they occur next time.
Sources:
“African American Communities.” African American Communities, Adam Matthew, www.africanamericancommunities.amdigital.co.uk.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/Introduction/TakeATour.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. “American History, 1493-1945.” American History, 1493-1945, Adam Matthew, 2018, www.americanhistory.amdigital.co.uk.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu.