Journalism and history are intuitively connected as journalism has evolved to keep up with changes in society and technology over the years. However, as highlighted by Rodger Streitmatter throughout his book, Mightier than the Sword, journalism is not only connected to history but has also helped to shape it and make it what we know today.

While Streitmatter mentions many ways that journalism has influenced history, I found the most powerful to be the book’s namesake, the pen is “mightier than the sword.” From quill pens in the 18th century to online blogs in today’s society, journalists have changed Americans’ outlooks on many topics throughout history. Streitmatter mentions his Frederick Douglas’ writings helped turned Americans against slavery and how several news mediums today have helped to advocate and secure rights for the LGBT community. In these important and, as described by Streitmatter, “crucial” moments, journalism has been more than an accompaniment to history but rather something that has changed the course of history.

Ultimately, journalism is nearly always documenting history and, when written with purpose and talent, can have a decisive impact on our history. However the media may evolve in the future, journalism and history will always be intertwined.

Billy Ray’s 2003 film Shattered Glass tells the true story of Stephen Glass, the youngest writer at the New Republic from 1995-1998, and how he was caught fabricating the majority of his stories. This ultimately led to the charming and successful man’s demise as a reporter.

Glass was extremely popular among his colleagues and boss Chuck Lane at the New Republic. He wrote extremely interesting stories that always seemed to come up at the right time and right place. However, one particular story led to his whole world crashing down as Forbes Magazine attempted to follow up on it and realized the story did not add up. Glass had fabricated the entire story, from creating a fake website to lying about a conference he attended at a hotel. Glass’s boss Chuck at first tried to defend Glass but eventually could not any longer as further investigations into Glass’s work revealed complete fabrication of this story and many other stories he had written, including dates that didn’t make any sense, unlikely events and fake names of sources and companies. Glass was ultimately fired, and the end credits reveal he went on to study law full time.

While the two movies I saw before this, Spotlight and All the President’s Men, showcased the power of journalism to uncover the truth, Shattered Glass emphasized how journalism means nothing without the truth. I really enjoyed this movie because it showed that journalism is equally about integrity as it is about good writing. As we’ve learned in class, journalists are obligated and bound to the truth, and even though Glass wrote his stories in a journalistic manner, he was not being a journalist by fabricating facts.

Based on the true story, Alan J. Pakula’s 1976 film All the President’s Men follows reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as they unravel the truth about the Watergate scandal ultimately leading up to President Richard Nixon’s resignation.

Prior to the 1972 election, the Washington Post assigned Woodward and Bernstein to investigate a seemingly minor break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters. During the investigation, they discover the burglary is a lot bigger than they thought. Risking their personal safety to investigate the scandal, the reporters employ the help of a mysterious source within Washington called Deep Throat as well as a team of editors and follow the trail all through the Republican Party and eventually to the White House. Their investigative reporting uncovered the full truth of the scandal and ultimately led to the resignation of President Nixon.

A common theme I am taking away from these movies about investigative reporting is the power journalism has to uncover the truth. Similar to Spotlight, which I saw just before this, All the President’s Men begins with reporters doing their job to report on a seemingly minor case and end up stumbling upon something large and complex. I never knew that a scandal as big as Watergate was uncovered simply by journalism and the basic tenants we learned about in class.

The movie was very well done with great acting and really highlighted the importance of journalism in society.

Tom McCarthy’s 2015 film Spotlight tells the true story of how the Boston Globe’s investigative reporting unit uncovered the truth about wide-spread child molestation by Catholic priests in Boston in 2001.

The Globe’s investigative reporting unit, called Spotlight, was initially assigned to investigate the priest John Geoghan, accused of sexually abusing more than 80 boys, and a potential cover-up by the Catholic Church. Made up of editor Robby Robinson and reporters Matt Carroll, Sacha Pfeiffer and Mike Rezendes, the team spent a year combing through court documents, interviewing victims and talking to lawyers. What began as an investigation of one man turned into an investigation of the entire Catholic Church — the Globe discovered the molestations were not carried out by a single priest, but rather several priests in Boston. The team also learned that the Church not only covered up these crimes, but also did nothing to stop them. After a year of thorough investigation, the team confirmed 20 priests guilty of molesting children and published a story proving that the Catholic Church was aware of these crimes.

The fact that a small reporting team was able to go up against such a large and powerful institution struck me as most powerful about the movie and the story in general. What started off as an investigation of one priest turned into a full-scale investigation of the entire Catholic Church, something neither the Globe or the city of Boston was prepared for. The team of editors and reporters that worked on the investigation became heroes in the field — simply doing their jobs, they stumbled upon something huge and managed to reveal the full truth to the world through journalism.

Before this class, I admittedly did not spend much time reading the news. However, I have enjoyed reading news articles a lot more after understanding everything that goes into writing a good story. Over the past several weeks in Journalism 200, I’ve gained a new appreciation for news and the many methods and mediums it can be delivered by, and have concluded that journalism is a bit of an art in itself.

I think the many different methods news can be delivered gives journalism a lot of freedom and variety within the field, like art. For example, there are many ways to tell a story, whether it’s a reported article, an editorial or a piece in investigative journalism. While reporters may not get to choose what kind of article they write, news publications include a wide variety of types of journalism, which I find similar to an art portfolio.

In terms of mediums, a lot of the news I read comes from print newspapers, as my family still has the newspaper delivered everyday to our house. After focusing on the vast world of digital news this semester, I think online journalism is incredible and can offer a depth of information via narrative hyperlinks that print mediums can’t always achieve. From my parents’ generation to my generation, different platforms have changed the way news is told, and I think it’s exciting that journalism continues to evolve over time, like art.

Much of my opinion about journalism and how news is told regards journalists themselves. After writing several of my own pieces, I think journalism is difficult to execute under the many rules we learned about in class. Above all, I’ve gained a new level of respect for the integrity and work ethic journalists exercise everyday to deliver our news.

Shane Bauer, senior reporter for Mother Jones, asserted himself among the crowd at a political rally in Berkeley, California, for a piece investigating the clash between various political factions.

The rally included right-wingers advocating for free speech and a counter-argument from left-winged activists. Bauer wrote running observations from the day in detail from 10:45 A.M. until the afternoon. The rally started off as “mayhem” as the two parties went at each other but by the end of the day “fizzled out.”

Bauer’s sources came from the people at the rally. Much of the story is quoted material from what he heard people say or from his own interactions with people, including participants in the rally and local law enforcement. For example, Bauer talked to an African American Trump supporter named Malechite who, after Bauer asked whether he thought Trump was racist, replied, “there’s nothing we can do about that, so it’s either work with this man or go against the grain, and it could be a horrible four years for us.”

Bauer collected facts from the Berkeley Police Department, such as how they arrested over 20 people during the rally for various crimes including battery and assault with a deadly weapon.

Bauer utilizes figures in the form of photos he took during the rally. For example, he explained how a right-winger lunged into the left-wing side of the rally and was subsequently pepper sprayed. According to Bauer, the man removed his shirt, poured milk into his eyes and continued to fight, which is represented in a photo showing the man in this exact scenario. Bauer includes a photo for nearly all of the sources he quotes.

Using his observations from the day, Bauer concludes that “violent street battles” between these two parties could continue, in Berkeley or in any city.

On April 13th, a panel featuring experienced journalists and four faculty members from the College of Media convened at Gregory Hall to discuss “the war on facts.”

Titled “The War on Facts: Costs and Casualties,” the panel discussed “alternative facts” and fake facts. The panel emphasized the surge of fake facts in modern journalism and in the media, especially surrounding the Trump Administration. According to Lynn Sweet, panel member and Chicago Sun-Times Washington Bureau Chief, covering the 2016 election was vastly different from past elections.

John Nerone, a professor in the College of Media, acknowledged that lying in media has always occurred, however, today it is done “with impunity” compared to in the past, which could explain the surge of misinformation in the media today.

Stephanie Craft, the author of the textbook for this course, stressed that this “war” is difficult to fight. Presenting correct facts does not always sway the minds of the public and also brings more attention to fake facts. She used the analogy that the media was “bringing a knife to a gun fight,” referring to the media only instigating the problem more by presenting more facts.

Ultimately, ebbing the surge of fake facts falls not only on journalists and the media, but also to the public and anyone involved, or else facts could die out for good.

Melania Trump will be compensated for her damages and costs after being libeled by The Daily Mail last year, according to the New York Times.

In August 2016, The Daily Mail published an article that falsely claimed the modeling agency Mrs. Trump worked for during the 1990s doubled as an escort service. The article also claimed that Donald and Melania Trump faked their first meeting and had actually met three years beforehand.

Shortly after, Mrs. Trump filed lawsuits in Maryland and in London, and after Maryland dismissed the case due to no jurisdiction, New York. She also sued Webster Tartly, a Maryland blogger, for posting claims such that included the false information published by The Daily Mail.

The lawsuit wrote that her brand had “lost significant value” after the article was published and that it harmed potential opportunities for her brand down the line. The Daily Mail agreed on the settlement; it plans to retract the allegations as well as issue a formal apology on both its American and British online platforms.

Mrs. Trump reportedly asked for $150 million in compensatory and punitive damages, leaving The Daily Mail with a high price to pay for a little bit of libel.

Apparently solving the planet’s climate crisis could be as simple as going vegan.

According to George C. Wang, geriatrician and physician as well as assistant professor of medicine at both Columbia University and Johns Hopkins University, the impact of our dietary choices on climate change and sustainability is often overlooked.

Wang includes findings from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations that shows livestock industries produce more greenhouse gas emissions than the transportation sector. Additionally, livestock-raising activities produce a large amount of methane and nitrous oxide — gases 20 to 250 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.

Rather than turn a blind eye to the problem, Wang suggests our everyday food choices can make a real difference in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Referring to a study published in Nature, he mentions that even diets that include less animal products such as Mediterranean or pescetarian can make an impact on reducing emissions, though a global vegetarian diet is ideal.

In addition to tackling our planet’s greenhouse gas issues, global vegetarianism would significantly decrease the need for agricultural land and subsequent land clearing. It would also help in preserving the environment and slowing the depletion of Earth’s natural resources. All of these effects could be taken even further by adopting a vegan diet, which eliminates dairy and eggs.

Wang does acknowledge the challenges plant-based diets may pose in terms of our tastes, cooking practices, social habits and more. However, he asks us to look beyond these obstacles and consider the health of our planet, as well as the survival of future generations.

“It is rare that a single choice of ours can have a broad and decisive impact on the climate crisis,” he says.