Joshunda Sanders' Mills Elementary Visit to Suzanna Ammenheuser's class

I had the good fortune this morning of addressing the very astute and intelligent 3rd graders in Suzanna Ammenheuser's class at Mills Elementary School. They had prepared questions for me on index cards, and I'd prepared my notes on an index card, so we already had one thing in common aside from an interest in newspapers.

When I arrived, I spoke with the students about the purpose and principles of newspaper journalists. I told them that our main goal is to inform our fellow citizens while remaining accurate, timely and objective. I provided context about this from the perspective of a crime reporter who contributes both to the web and print iterations of the Statesman.

They were curious about how I became a reporter, what the job was like, the differences between a hard news story and a feature and about how much money I make (all very good questions! I should've asked those when I was still new to the biz). The students said they love reading the comics, and the sports section. They called the advertisements "boring" and said they disliked negative stories.

They were particularly affected by the recent story of a mother who abused her children in public. I was moved by their compassion and thoughtfulness related to this story. Like some adults who read it, the third graders wondered why no one had done anything when Ms. Gallardo threw her little one against a car. It was difficult to remain unbiased about that answer, but they picked up on the difficulty of being unbiased and objective when writing about difficult topics.

They seemed interested in the kinds of stories I like to write, and I mentioned to them that I enjoy writing profiles, like this one about an 109-year-old black woman whose father was a slave. She mailed in her ballot for President-Elect Barack Obama after witnessing decades of discrimination. One student asked a particularly thoughtful question about whether I ever "make things up in order to make my stories more interesting," to which I replied that a reporter's worth is in part determined by his or her credibility, so it's important not to damage one's reputation by fudging the truth.

I enjoyed hearing from young Statesman readers. They were very engaged and intelligent.
I have to admit I did feel a little ancient when they informed me that they were mostly born in 2000 - the year I started my career in newspaper reporting. It was great to see them scribbling on their index cards while I spoke and they had no shortage of questions. Should they choose a career in newspapers, that inquisitiveness and penchant for note-taking will serve them well.