Disclosure before considering “Chips Achievement Prize” entry. Here’s my brief comment on covering immigranton well over three months now. I urge your read through before considering anything with the word “Prize” in it =) Also I make two references, one to my personal commentary and two, to a piece I did on McCain. they are both linked at the end…
Due to the recent developments in Arizona my personal thoughts on the issue of immigration have become too large to ignore. It’s no longer an issue I can simply disclose to my editor. It is all around me. My last day at the Link, Charlie Ericksen found a way to extend my internship until late August. I accepted the offer but placed a few conditions—one of them was that I would take a two-week vacation, turn-off my phone and forget that journalism, news and media existed. I wanted to dive into my pool have a barbeque and listen to the sound of music soothe my tired soul. I landed in Phoenix April 21 two days before Jan Brewer signed SB-1070.
Thursday, I was committed to staying home, but who was I kidding—it’s in my blood. I’m a journalist. When I was a kid I always wondered what would it have been like to cover MLK’s “I have a Dream,” speech, what would it mean to cover Vietnam or the fall of the Berlin Wall? Now in my early 20’s I don’t want to wonder anymore.
With many arguing that immigration has become the Civil Rights of the 21st century, I did not want to sit in the sidelines. No, I want to say I was there, I lived it, I covered it—truthfully objectively and without bias. Meeting a deadline and being accurate trumps any personal emotion—no exception, but I’ve covered this since January and now, unwillingly, it’s personal.
I wrote an editorial on my blog saying—immigration is about as personal as it gets. As I walked through massive crowds during Phoenix’s protests and still ongoing vigils, I saw Hispanic journalists from all over the country with that general consensus. My brother even claimed he heard one of them say, “this coverage endangers my integrity and my job.” To us SB-1070 is an attack on our culture, our color—us. I’m the fly on the wall that broke the silence, but I remain fair. I just refuse to sit quietly when so many have declared us inferior.
Even still I listen to those whose opinions differ from mine. When Arizona Senators McCain and Kyl announced their border security plan, McCain called the proposed legislation a good idea. That opened the flood gates. Now everyone led with “McCain endorses SB1070.” When I heard that, I was about to lead with the same thing until something stopped me—I picked up the phone and called McCain’s office. The spokeswoman told me he wasn’t endorsing it, but rather blaming federal inaction for the immigration mess.
I presented his side in a way only a few outlets did. I refused to lead with the word “endorsement” I argued with my editor. He understood. That to me is fairness. Even with my hands caught in a cookie jar, I acknowledge that everyone has a right to defend their views. Am I bias with immigration—when the issue is color, absolutely. But I will not follow ledes blindly just because they sound good. Fairness is fairness—no objectivity needed, Hispanics, that is all we ask.
McCain: http://wp.me/pOBy2-d
Commentary: http://wp.me/pOBy2-s