Notes from a Publisher: Concerning Lisa Hathcoat, Anderson High School and the Future of Journalism

I've given this some thought today (amongst dealing with other issues on the site, and lots of client work) and think I should probably say something. This whole 'issue' or series of events is pretty interesting to me. The thought occurred to me that the 'students' who posted today might not actually be students. There's no way to honestly tell.

(On a quick side note - does anyone think I gave out TMI - too much information - with just saying the ISP?)

If the posts were made by a student, though, I hope they get a chance to read this, a message for them. Journalism is changing. If you look at the timeline on this, for example...

• Citizen points out a story the local newspaper (The Herald Bulletin) isn't doing - a good story about Anderson Schools...
• Conversation starts up about student journalists, etc.
• Citizen prints an email she got from the principal, with name and email for Lisa Hathcoat, who handles journalism at Anderson High School
• Time passes. I get a call from an outraged Ms. Hathcoat, demanding her name and email be taken down.
• A conversation starts up ... Her email is edited out, but the conversation is about her and journalism in general...
• ONE YEAR PASSES
• Another call sparks another conversation on AFP where I lay out the situation, or at least my side of it.
• Anderson High School's website is pointed out as a nod of recognition...
• Then today... The profanity was uncalled for...

Here's the thing. The above sequence of events isn't 'journalism' per se, but it's part of a process. I haven't meant to single out or point fingers at Ms. Hathcoat for the job she's doing. In fact, I've offered help (for free) more than once. The sequence of events has brought some things to light for the public, though, I think.

The website put up was a great first step, a good start. To be honest, though, you guys should be learning the 'current' web and how it works - Web 2.0 as they call it. (Which actually has a lot of different definitions, depending on who you ask...) If anyone from Anderson High School is reading, and you want to start up a free and independent news source for your school, let me know and I'll see what I can do about getting you a domain and some server space. I even promise to NOT put any ads on it, etc. Smile.

Of course, if ACSC, during the current economic crisis, would like to accept my offer for FREE consulting, that's still an option too. I just want to help people, use the skills and abilities God has given me and that I have honed over the years with hard work.

There would be rules, of course. The outburst here on AFP wasn't appreciated - whoever it was. (I still have to 'clean up' and edit where people quoted it...That's the job of an editor, though, in the modern world.)

You see, journalism is changing. It's becoming a conversation rather than a one-way monologue of journalist to citizen. The sooner you guys still in school realize that, the better your chances of surviving in the media, if that's something you want to go into.

It's an exciting time to be a journalist. Don't ever let anyone tell you different.

If the idea has been thrown around that I'm 'dissing' (or however you kids term it these days!) your journalism instructer, let me clear that up. I'm not. I'm still willing to sit down with her (in a public place - I'd even buy the coffee!) to get to the bottom of her problem with me and Anderson Free Press. 

I don't see that happening, though. Which is a shame, because I think there might be advice I could offer on AHS running a modern web community for their students, while giving the students experience with the Internet as it works in the real world. 

Again, no offense to the students who put the current website together. It's a great start. Welcome to the Internet. Here's hoping a few better diplomats from your side of the fence show up to discuss Anderson and the future of media in this city. Smile.

It's hard for one person to do 'real journalism' and survive paying bills, but closing out my fourth year, I'm more filled with hope than ever. I was able to accomplish a lot on my own last year, but I see even bigger things for this year. 

Anyway, there are many other things I *should* be doing at the moment (digging into the Mallard Landfill issue, doing the good news story I have a lead on concerning Anderson airport, etc., etc., etc...), but I wanted to stop and give some of my thoughts on this issue. I don't want to drag it out, but it would be nice if there could be some 'good ending' to the whole story, something all parties involved could laugh about years from now.