Morality in the Media informs young journalists

The Lipscomb University Department of Communication and Journalism hosted the inaugural Morality in the Media conference Friday. The conference consisted of a variety of journalists and speakers who talked about different aspects of the media. From the changing dynamic of the media and its consumers, to sessions about how to cover gun control issues and gay marriage. Department of Communication Chair Alan Griggs opened up the conference with a welcome to introduce the first speaker Kelly McBride. McBride is the Vice President of Academic Programs at the Poynter Institute. She discussed how the media has changed since the 20th century, and different trends in the media as it relates to consumers. “Students who are going into journalism, or any other form of communication, need to know that our ethics are changing,” McBride said. “They’re changing because the audience is changing.” McBride wanted to make it clear that young journalists need to be aware of their surroundings and paying attention to the changes in the world. “They constantly need to be developing new knowledge about how that audience is changing, and you do that by watching what technologies does the audience adopt,” McBride said. “In addition to all the knowledge you gained in your studies, you have to be adept enough at looking at what the audience is doing, how they’re doing it, particularly around technology.” Following McBride’s speech, there was a panel of guests who discussed the way the media covers controversial issues. The first issue was gun control. The speakers were: retired editorial page editor for The Tennessean Dwight Lewis, WREG-TV news director Bruce Moore, WSMV-TV news reporter...