SUMMER SCHOOL ZONE: Aspiring journalist hopes to restore trust in media

Whenever adults ask what I’m studying at college, my answer is almost always met with a sigh of relief. They tell me they’re hoping I’m a part of a generation that changes the industry. This is then followed with a hearty plea to stay truthful or with advice to work with no personal agenda. Each interaction varies, but the underlying message is always the same: Make the industry better than it is now. 

My name is Emily Rhodes, and I am a 20-year-old student studying journalism at the University of Florida. I didn’t anticipate this reaction when I declared the major, but since then, as I have taken a few steps into what I hope to be a full-time career, I understand it. 

I once got into an hourlong conversation with a stranger about how he no longer watched the news because he could not find a network with unbiased reporting. In high school, I witnessed a friendship deteriorate over a disagreement involving where their news was obtained. My friend’s parents used to tell me that as long as I pursued what was right and worked hard, I could be a part of the solution that the media needed. I’ve come to understand that the relationship most Americans have with the media is one of frustration and mistrust.

I fell in love with writing at a young age, but I never realized I could make a career out of it until taking yearbook in high school. Most people in the class enjoyed everything about the yearbook-making process, except for the writing part. I often volunteered to write other people’s pieces because it wasn’t a chore to me. My peers obviously loved this, but I quickly realized that I did, too. The satisfaction of crafting an eloquent sentence or conducting a rewarding interview was something I found gratifying. So, when I was faced with choosing a major, journalism just made sense. 

From my time thus far at UF, I have learned from some incredibly experienced journalists about the art of writing and the industry itself. Despite what some people might think, I have not heard a single professor tell us to cut corners to obtain information. Never have they encouraged us to begin the writing process with an agenda or slip our biases into a piece whenever we can. 

I can say their political opinions often slip out, and if yours don’t align, it’s usually in your best interest to not let this be made known. It’s understood that one side of journalism is accepted more than the other, and this is not up for debate. Both things can be true. 

I think this is representative of the state of the media today: Well-crafted journalism is still widely available, it’s just hidden under political biases and opinions. This light-in-the-dark, well-crafted journalism is why I am so eager to become a journalist myself. Not because I want to further the industry’s less-than-desired reputation, but because I want to change it. 

I want people to read articles or watch news segments and not think twice about the publisher’s beliefs. I want people to hear the word journalism and associate it with reliability and justness. I want people to feel like the media has their best interest at heart rather than an agenda. When people sigh in relief at my job choice, I want them to feel vindicated and fulfill their desires for trusted media. 

As a young adult who is a couple of years away from entering the workforce, I hope to see change and be a part of it, as well.