WJI 2019, Day 6 AM

WJI began with a scene from The Right Stuff, in which a gutsy World War II fighter pilot is approached about his interest to conduct a risky test flight to break the sound barrier. Chuck Yeager’s famous flight acts as a metaphor of journalists pushing through obstacles that seem impenetrable at first.

We then compared WORLD’s style guide to NPR’s, examining the different language used when writing on abortion. Marvin also gave a neat aside on his brief interview with Michael Jordan during the White Sox spring training camp.

We also discussed the effects of biblical objectivity on modern journalism. If objectivity cannot be completely attained by humans, then who is the ultimate authority? God. Also, how are Christian journalists supposed to go about their work in the secular workforce? The short answer is to abide by organizational codes until they interfere with your faith.

Another session focused on THAWing, which is WORLD’s acronym for effective journalism: Thinking, Hunting, Analyzing, Writing. This method reveals just how many steps precede the action of putting your pen to the paper. We then revisited our Tulip Festival pieces, sharpening the focus and finding details that support it.

Marvin finished off the morning session by walking the class through the latest issue of WORLD’s magazine.