Diane Winston Speaks on What Matters in Journalism
By Isaac Moody MA ‘15
Diane Winston, former journalist and scholar spoke at Ground Zero today about issues that matter most to her, both as a person and journalist.
She specializes in religion, politics and the news media, and began a career over forty years ago, and her stories have appeared in The New York Times, Huffington Post, and Wall Street Journal.
Winston holds the Knight Chair in Media and Religion at the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism here at USC.
The office of Religious Life and USC Spectrum called this event “What Matters To Me The Most and Why” and it reflected Winston’s values, beliefs and motivations, particularly with those who’ve helped shape culture internationally and on campus.
“I do for others through my writing. And I’m interested in stories that give people hope to think about their world or get involved, that could make the world a better place to live in.”
Winston is a self-proclaimed secular jew and hails from New York. Early on in her career she was interested in documenting unsung heroes and striving for social change.
As the religious chair she works extensively with students in helping them create stories outside their own reality. Her philosophy is based on 3 axioms: decentralizing of conflict, no substitution to reality, and simply asking oneself, “What do I do for others?”
According to Winston, American society accepts conflict as the norm, as opposed to cooperation and peace, and she often strives to find a solution to an issue, rather than sensationalize the conflict or the chaos of a story.
“Conflict is a convenient way to give readers what they want, and it’s usually something that’s shocking,” she says.
She recalls that looking at someone in the eyes is greater than a virtual interview because you are invited into an individual’s world. Next, she talked about being a vessel between her information and her audience.
In fact, she recalls an instance where she experienced a sense of oneness with a past story. Something she recalls as a complete immersion of her writing and experience with a feeling of mediation or becoming.
Following her presentation, she opened the space into a public forum of Q&A. Some students asked: “What’s the future of journalism,” and “What are your thoughts on religious coverage in the 21st century?”
According to Diane, journalism is not going anywhere and neither is religion. “People are always going to ask Why am I here or What’s my purpose in life, and one of the reasons why journalism is important is because it can inspire people to strive for change, and it can also give people hope. Those are the stories that matter to me the most.”
She says that religious coverage has progressed but believes that everyone should be better informed or educated.
Then there’s the challenge of finding interesting stories and remaining objective. She says, “All journalists have an agenda, but they shouldn’t let their agenda rule over their stories or the facts.”
Currently, Diane Winston is on sabbatical but publishes a website called Religion Dispatches, a nonprofit that covers issues of religion, politics and culture.
Find out more here: http://religiondispatches.org/about/
