(Mark Harper is a journalist for the Daytona Beach News-Journal and mostly covers politics and local news.)
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“I have a long history of covering elections, and those stories are always a classic example of the direct role journalists play in a democracy. Frequently it’s up to journalists to sort through the questions voters have — who is this person and what are they going to do when I cast my vote?”
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- “…Once, I learned that a city council candidate had a history of crime, including burglary and domestic violence. I did a thorough job of reporting and gave the candidate every opportunity to explain himself. He lost.”
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- “In 2013, I wrote a story about how a budget deal between Congress and the Obama administration led to federal funding cuts to senior programs including Meals-on-Wheels and congregate dining here in the community where I live and work, Volusia County, Florida. Within days, a local philanthropist announced he would donate $100,000 to the program if the community could come up with another $100,000 in donations. Around 600 people gave money totaling $185,000+, so including the match, the local Council on Aging had money to keep serving low-income and lonely seniors. These kinds of “make-a-difference” stories in journalism are rare but completely satisfying.”
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- “I [ultimately] wish more people understood journalists are way less ideological than commonly thought. Journalists, or at least the best of them, are not seeking a truth or their truth, but the truth, which tends to defy political philosophies.”
(Edited by Kately Rivero)
