The King James Bible 400 years and still going strong!

I had the privilege to visit the King James Bible exhibit at the BYU library this past week and it was extremely interesting.  It showed the history of how it came to be and what certain people like Wycliffe and Tyndale had to sacrifice so that we could have an English language bible.  The most interesting part of the exhibit for me was when they showed different pieces of literature that have been highly influenced by the King James Bible.  Some examples that they had there were Moby Dick, Grapes of Wrath and even the Gettysburg Address.  But because I am a Shakespeare geek I also have to throw in that Shakespeare has several biblical references in every play he ever wrote and the King James Bible is the one that he most likely used to study and learn all of the stories he references in his famous works.

Problems in Journalism

Journalism has quite a few problems, but the main one that I have noticed is the way that it has pulled away from relative news and gone to more of an infotainment that people think that they want.  Another name for it is 'market-driven news' which takes what people like, or are supposed to like, and put it into the newspaper or onto the news broadcast.  Instead of giving people what they need to know, because of consultants that don't understand news and relevance the way that journalists do, newspapers and news broadcasts are giving people what a market study, taken weeks or months before, says that they want.  Because of this new way of doing news people aren't getting the news even when they think they are.
The solution to this problem is taking back the newsrooms and the conference rooms of journalism by maybe not firing the consultants, but putting them in their places.  Sitting them down and telling them that people need to know what is happening around them, they don't need to know about the five different types of cats and the best ones for their homes, even if that is what they want to know about.  If journalists and editors do this, then maybe news in all of its forms can become what the people need instead of only what they want.

Journalism in Democracy

The role of journalism in democracy is one that most people seem to give to journalism without giving it a second thought.  Journalism takes the information about our government and relays it to the people, with the information necessary for the general public to understand what is going on.  I think especially because this year is an election year, a role of journalism is to let the public know who is running and what their stands on certain issues are.  Because we are a part of a democracy the public needs to know who is running and how those candidates hope to run our country, so that when the public votes they can do so with as much information as they can.  Journalism has a very important role in democracy, because of the information that is given to the public through journalism.

Journalism and Personal Beliefs

Journalism is tricky profession, because as journalists we are not supposed to advocate anything from a grocery store to a religion.  So, the issue becomes how to handle having opinions and a life outside of journalism, while writing about things that journalists come in contact with everyday.  My approach to having personal religious beliefs and being a journalist is to stay objective and not allow my beliefs to cloud my vision of others and their beliefs.  Instead of going into a situation or interview with an opinion already set, I need to go in with an open mind, ready to learn new things.  If I go into situations with that mind set, I will be able to stay objective and independent, without forcing my opinions and beliefs onto my audience.