To celebrate our 2016 centennial, the Pulitzer Prizes partnered with America’s state and territorial humanities councils as part of the Pulitzer Campfires Initiative. Each participating council took up the challenge in its own way.
Media Ethics students at University of Central Oklahoma reported on a Campfire event that brought Pulitzer Prize winners to their campus. Titled 'The Culture of Trauma Coverage Before and After the Internet,' the panel discussion dealt with the effects of covering distressing news events on the personal lives of the panelists their colleagues.
The afternoon was one full of excitement, learning and making connections. I realized all three and even more at the Pulitzer Centennial event.
I received the honor of being a student ambassador for the University of Central Oklahoma’s event and was assigned to Hailey Branson-Potts, a Los Angeles Times staff writer who was a part of a team that won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of the San Bernardino shooting.
When I heard about my role in the event, I was anxious to be involved in something so interesting. My goal for my last year of college was to be more active in the communication department at my university, and that’s exactly what I was doing. About a week before the Pulitzer event, I received an email with my job description for the event and the journalist I was assigned to. Immediately after, I researched Hailey and everything she’s done. At just 28 years old, I realized this could be me in a few years. Although I’m a sports journalist, there are still ways for me to make an impact in the broad world of journalism. The week of the event, I became ill, missing the majority of the school week. But I wanted to show up to the centennial event dressed well — maybe too well; I was wearing a tuxedo — prepared to meet Hailey and learn from the various journalists on the panel. By the grace of God, that’s what I did.Hailey and I actually arrived at the event around the same time, and within seconds I was asking questions about her road to the Los Angeles Times and what route I should take after next May. It felt good to be able to talk to and not feel intimidated around an established, award-winning journalist like her. It felt like we were just classmates conversing about the business. However, when I started listening to her portion of the trauma panel, I noticed the difference between the two of us. She was so poised, and after hearing her description of what happened from her vantage point during the San Bernardino shooting, I really started thinking about how I would've reacted. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t have ran off or anything, but I might have been too eager to see what was going on and forgot to film it, in all honesty. Either that, or I would’ve gotten too close, or too involved and gotten shot in the process.
Covering events like this takes a special person. It takes someone who has the stomach and mental fortitude to see disturbing things at times while remaining composed. It takes someone who has great discernment. Not to mention storytelling ability.
I walked into the event honestly wanting to make connections and present myself in the best way. I feel like I did that, but I didn't know how this would educate me in a different field of journalism that I haven’t yet explored.
I’ve lived in the sports world my entire life as an athlete and now as a sports journalist. Not once did I explore or appreciate Hailey’s field. Now, after the panel, I have a newfound appreciation for this kind of reporting. Although I may never win a Pulitzer Prize, I’m making it a point to make an impact on my personal field of journalism at a young age just like Hailey has in hers.