Never Stay Silent- Why?

    When taking JOU-1300 at High Point University, a student will see a course name: "Never Stay Silent". But why?

    Why name a course this? What does this mean? Why is a journalism class called this and not a class about public speaking?

    So let's break it down.

    To answer these questions, we must pose a different one first: what is a journalists job?

    A journalist is a voice for the voiceless. A journalism is a light in darkness. A journalist is truth in lies. A journalist is democracy defined.

    So often, journalists think they must write the story that will get the most hits. They must write the story that people like. They must write what people want to hear.

    But this quite simply is not true.

    A journalists job is to "seek truth and report it." To "minimize harm". To "act independently". To "be accountable and transparent".

    So why "Never Stay Silent"?

    Journalists are not to report on things when they are good. Journalists report on the good, the bad, and the ugly of humanity. Journalists speak up when they see wrongdoing. Journalists call out corruption when needed.

    Although it may be easy to sit back, report on feel good stories, and ignore the bad, that is not journalism.

    Journalists are key to the inner workings of any democracy. They must use their voices. They must use their platforms.

    But they also must not use their voices or platforms to push a personal agenda, but rather an agenda that protects the American people by not staying silent.