Sometimes we have steam coming out of our ears. This week, for example, one of my colleagues was fuming at the desk. “A low point in my career”, my colleague said indignantly. What had happened? An article that had been sent to the interviewee to be checked for accuracy came back covered in red. For those unfamiliar with Word’s Track Changes feature, there were more (red) changes than there was original (black) text. I’ve written about it before: some employees and students believe they are better journalists/writers and feel free to edit or delete entire sentences or paragraphs as they see fit. This is quite different from correcting any factual errors. In this case, the article contained one inaccuracy (my colleague had misunderstood something) and there was one other minor point.
Respect
Not too long ago, I read a UM document about interpersonal behaviour – I don’t remember which one – that said we should respect each other’s professional abilities. It’s part of normal interaction among colleagues. Apparently, this can be quite a challenge for some.
Grumpy
Another colleague encountered a rather grumpy person this week. They demanded to know why Observant was interested in covering the heated discussion surrounding diversity and inclusive teaching at the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences. Journalists, this person claimed, are only out to pit people against each other, to meddle in things that are already done and dusted and therefore old news. Unfortunately, such reactions are also par for the course in journalism. There’s often an underlying agenda, but it never gets any easier when your professionalism and, in this case, your integrity are questioned.
Fortunately
Fortunately, not everyone thinks this way. An assistant professor has asked us to develop a workshop for his students on writing opinion pieces. He himself knows a lot about international economics, but when it comes to writing a good opinion piece, “I just wing it”, he chuckles. That’s why he prefers to leave it to the professionals.