Thank You, War Hawks

Throughout the year, it is the War Hawk Herald’s responsibility to keep McMurry students, staff, and faculty informed on school events, local events, state events, national, and international events. Our reporters work hard each week, exploring several topics within our school and our surrounding area. Whether it’s McMurry sports or a nationwide phenomenon, our job is to keep readers up do date on everything McMurry and beyond.

Aside from providing our readers with up to date information, our job is to provide readers with accurate information, reliable resources, and accountability within articles.

Journalism is a vigilance that knows no midnight. What does that mean? Journalism is a field that requires you to work day and nights, always prepared for the next big event to happen. Journalists are responsible for covering everything news related, whether it’s automobile accidents on interstates or covering a broad and extensive case of investigative journalism.

In our current society, the term “fake news” has become popular to credit and discredit many news sources. Out of a survey conducted to fifteen students on campus, eight say that they aren’t sure whether the news they read is reliable or not. Many turn to CNN or Fox News as their sources and trust that the news that they read is objective, non-biased, and accurate (according to the survey).

In a different survey polling fifteen students, twelve reported that they only read headlines and watch multimedia videos that summarize the article for them. This modern day phenomena has drastically changed the field of journalism.

Journalists are now required to write, take photography, and build multimedia videos describing their story. When one thinks of a reporter, one may usually think of a writer for a newspaper or a TV anchor. However, journalists now have to adapt to modern day society and have to do three tedious jobs at once.

According to the American Press Institute, “Journalism can be distinguished from other activities and products by certain identifiable characteristics and practices. These elements not only separate journalism from other forms of communication, they are what make it indispensable to democratic societies. History reveals that the more democratic a society, the more news and information it tends to have.”

In essence, journalism has been the way we as Americans express our first amendment right to freely express ourselves. Journalism gives a voice to the voiceless and brings light to those who are in the shadows.

As the student editor for The War Hawk Herald, my goal is to provide students with accurate and trustworthy information on a bi-weekly basis. It is also my responsibility to make sure that our reporters write and quote accurately, always maintaining the ethics that journalism requires.

However, journalism could not be a profession and a passion of mine and several others without its readers. Thank you, War Hawks for making the student newspaper possible and thank you to everyone who has contributed to our goal of keeping McMurry informed, up to date, and conscious of what’s going on.