Dean Stone speaker to discuss
evolution of journalism

By Bennett Jacobs
J-School Web reporter

In an age when the American public has come to distrust traditional forms of media, journalists must make some major changes, said Deborah Potter, an expert in the field who will speak at UM April 14 and 15.

Potter, president and executive director of NewsLab, a non-profit journalism training and research center in Washington, D.C., will be on campus as part of the School of Journalism’s 48th annual Dean Stone Awards Banquet.

“I think we are at an interesting time in journalism,” Potter said. “The public is choosing to absorb less traditional journalism. They are choosing to get their news from the Internet and other potentially non-objective sources.”

Scandals like the ones involving Dan Rather of CBS and Jayson Blair and The New York Times have not helped, she said.

Potter will expound upon some of her solutions to “the fix [we journalists] are in” in a lecture in the Urey Underground Lecture Hall at 7:30 p.m. April 14 and again the following evening at the Dean Stone Awards Banquet at the Holiday Inn Parkside.

One problem many journalists face, said Potter, is that they lack what should be a fundamental journalistic skill.

“Journalists need to do a better job listening,” Potter said. “They need to not be so snotty and arrogant so people won’t be so skeptical about them.”

This is due in part, Potter said, to the evolution of journalism — from a civic duty and a crucial part of democracy into a profession.

“As journalism became a profession, it lost its connection to the community,” Potter said. “It used to be that you were 14 years old delivering the paper, and next thing you know you’re the managing editor. It’s not like that anymore.”

Potter knows plenty about the evolution of journalism. Before going to NewsLab in 1998, she was a political and environmental correspondent for CNN. Before that she had a 13-year run with CBS News, where she served as White House, State Department and Congressional correspondent.

As for CBS’s recent troubles, Potter has little sympathy.

“CBS didn’t follow the basic precepts of journalism,” she said. “The truth is, this has probably been going on for a while.”

These days, a typical week for Potter usually involves a trip to a new city, where she conducts workshops to teach current and aspiring journalists how to be better at what they do.

She said her trip to Montana will be a welcome change of pace.

The Dean Stone Awards Banquet is the premier event each year for the School of Journalism. This year the school will award nearly 70 scholarships, doling out approximately $74,000. The event is named in honor of the School of Journalism’s first dean, Arthur L. Stone.

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