The Importance of Accepting Criticism to Improve as Writers

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The Importance of Accepting Criticism to Improve as Writers

The movie, ‘All the President’s Men’, was based on the story of two journalists who unraveled The Watergate Scandal. Carl Bernstein is a reporter with years of experience writing for the Washington Post. Bob Woodward is a newbie at the paper with only 9 months experience. Fortunately for him, he was assigned to cover the now famous story regarding the break in at the National Democratic Committee Headquarters. His first draft of the story was not up to par, according to his partner, Carl. Carl secretly tried to correct the draft and got called out by Bob for doing so. Carl explained that the first paragraph of the story needed clarity or otherwise ‘people won’t know what you’re talking about.’ Bob accepted the new version of his story and told Carl, “I don’t mind what you did, I mind how you did it.” In other words, he was open to constructive criticism but was not okay with Carl sneaking behind his back to correct his writing. Their dialogue showed that to be a good writer, one needs to write with a clear message or thesis from the first paragraph, and should be willing to accept input and constructive criticism from others.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074119/

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The Importance of Trustworthy Sources

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Investigative Reporting Involves a Ton of Work

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The movie, ‘All the President’s Men’, follows the investigation of the Watergate scandal by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post. During the course of the movie Bob and Carl follow up on hundreds of leads to get their story. Many of those leads were unproductive. They went to the Library of Congress to find out what books were checked out by one of the men in the break-in of the National Democratic Headquarters building. They were hoping that the books he was reading would give them an idea of what he was involved in. They used the Yellow Pages and the White Pages to find the addresses of people they wanted to contact. They also used their contacts to provide them with information that would help them discover more clues regarding why there was a burglary of the National Democratic Committee Headquarters and who paid for it. In the White House, ‘Deep-throat’, was one of their unnamed informants, who guided Bob Woodward through the investigation. Carl and Bob got part of their story by tricking people into saying or admitting more than they wanted to. For example, Bob stated as fact something he wasn’t sure of, and their reluctant informant asked, “Who told you that?”, to which they didn’t reply, since she was the one who had just confirmed the information. The movie was a great example of how much work it was to get information and to piece that information together into the story which led to President Nixon’s downfall.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074119/

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"Coyote"

Nathaniel "Coyote" Peterson is a famous YouTuber, journalist and wildlife educator. He owns a YouTube channel called Brave Wilderness where he gets most of his publicity educating us about insects, and other animals while getting bit, stung, or pinched by them. Coyote Peterson reminds us of what Steve Erwin used to give us back in the day. He is a very educational man on what insects and other types of animals we should avoid and how to escape if encountered with them. In his videos, he shows the live stings and bites and gives a breakdown of how the venom of an animal effects our bodies. Be Brave, Stay Wild.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6E2mP01ZLH_kbAyeazCNdg

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Organic vs. Non-Organic

Many people have jumped on the wave of eating organic food as it seems today. However, not many who consume organic foods know what the term "organic" actually means. The term organic refers to the process of how certain foods are produced. Organic products are made without the  different types of chemicals that are in our abundant amounts of non-organic foods "Organic foods have been grown or farmed without the use of artificial chemicals, hormones, antibiotics or Genetically Modified Organisms." For a food to be considered for organic labelling, it must be free from the preservatives. The most common purchases of organic foods are fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy products, and meat. Hence, theses are the healthiest foods that we can buy. 

Source: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/what-is-organic-food

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Rebecca Leber

 Rebecca Leber is a journalist who focuses on environmental topics and issues. She is a reporter for Mother Jones’ DC bureau, a lot of her publications revolve around environmental policies and energy politics. According to “The Bulletin,” “she’s covered climate and energy for The New Republic, Grist, and ThinkProgress, and her writing has been published by more than a dozen outlets.” I think that her publications are very important in today’s society where environmental issues are cast aside. Leber’s work puts into perspective the issues with current environmental policies and politics, and what can be done to see changes for the future.

https://thebulletin.org/biography/rebecca-leber/

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Spotlight

I watched the film, Spotlight, a film about investigative journalism. The story revolves around the Boston Globe’s investigation of the Catholic Church. Upon watching this film, I felt that it accurately depicted the triumphs and challenges of investigative journalism. According to a Pro Publica article, the film “vividly captures the mix of frustration, drudgery and excitement that goes into every great investigative story. Where liberties were taken, and there were a few, they are in line with the realities of the news business.” I learned that there is a lot that goes into the process of investigative journalism, and sometimes the importance of a story is not always prioritized within the news. I felt that the film did a good job of depicting the story of Boston Globe’s investigation within the Catholic Church and I learned a lot about the process behind journalism.

thttps://www.propublica.org/article/spotlight-gets-investigative-journalism-right

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