By Amanda ValentovicSTAFF WRITER
The Society of Professional Journalists held its annual Region One Conference at Hofstra on April 17th and 18th, hosting journalists and students from all over the northeast to attend panels and speeches on different topics, including data journalism and freelancing, in the journalism world. The conference had about 150 attendants and was sponsored by the Press Club of Long Island. Hofstra alum Lance Ulanoff was the keynote speaker.
At the art criticism panel titled, “Criticism in the Age of Social Media,” Newsday film critic Rafer Guzman described his job as evaluating movies, not influencing the public.
“I don’t feel like I’m there to prevent something from breaking through,” he said. Though sometimes criticism does affect how well a piece of art does commercially, it does not always have a major impact.
Professor Peter Goodman, who moderated the panel, also said that even though someone else always know more about art than the reporter does, a journalist should not be intimidated. “You don’t need to be intimidated by the fact that people around you know more,” said Goodman.
“Journalism is journalism, no matter where it occurs,” said Seaman, who is also a medical reporter for Thomson Reuters, at a different panel discussing journalistic ethics. The panel focused on minimizing the harming effects a story can have on a person and what ethical consequences a reporter could face.
“Even if you have a good story that’s vital to the public, you don’t want to cause harm because of it,” Seaman said. Even though many stories could potentially hurt those involved, sometimes a reporter has to think about their own and their subjects’ reputation.
“Is the information that you’re getting worth the harm that you’re creating?” said Seaman.
Keynote speaker Ulanoff focused his speech on storytelling and the many methods reporters and writer have at their disposal. “We have to be willing as journalists to use every tool at our disposal,” he said. Ulanoff said that using the term “storytellers” is better than saying journalists or writers, because stories are ongoing and can be revisited.
“The story never ends,” he said.