Fresno Bee Metro Editor Tad Weber shares his story during Scholastic Journalism Week

To kick off Scholastic Journalism Week, The Feather staff received a visit from Metro Editor of The Fresno Bee, Tad Weber, Feb. 22. He spoke on the role which journalism plays in daily life and the importance it holds not only for the writers, but for the readers as well.

The discussion began with Weber speaking on Thomas Paine who was considered the first journalist of the 18th century with his pamphlets Common Sense. Its main purpose was getting information and facts out to the people, which is the foundation of journalism.

Times have changed since then, but the role of a journalist remains the same. Reporters seek to find true and factual information to help people make informed decisions. Weber reminded the staff that journalism is not opinionated, although it has its place within the field.

Fairness is a critical piece of the writing process and is found by seeking information from a well rounded group of people. A sense of balance must be found by giving a voice to both sides of the story. Journalists are encouraged to remain neutral so that an unbiased story is produced.

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Weber provided different examples of both quality and poor journalism to give tangible samples to the staff. The Watergate Scandal in the 1970s was the product of a journalist who took the article a step further and discovered a deeper story. The President of the United States was aware of the break-ins at the democratic party office, which might not have been discovered if this reporter neglected to investigate every detail of the story.

An example of corrupted journalism Weber provided was Janet Cooke, a writer for the Washington Post. He spoke about how Cooke wrote a beautiful story about a little boy growing up in a Washington, D.C, African American community and his hardships. Cooke won the Pulitzer Prize for this piece, one of the highest achievements in newspaper and online journalism. However, months later she admitted that the boy was not real, just a good, imaginative story.

Reporters and writers hold a great deal of responsibility to their readers and over time trust is built. Communities rely on the news to give them a sense of instruction and guidance so that they feel knowledgeable. Cooke is an example of what can take place when that trust is broken.

Towards the end of the discussion, Weber gave the class some insight into his past and what lead up to him taking the position as Metro Editor of The Fresno Bee. He first found his interest in journalism when he attended Humboldt State University. Weber joined the staff of the campus’ newspaper called The Lumberjack. He was a part of the program for three years and spent his last year as an editor.

When it came time for Weber to graduate in 1982, he acknowledged that he would soon have to find a job. With this in mind, he moved back home to Santa Barbara and talked his way into an internship for the Santa Barbara News Press as a sports writer. While he worked his way up the food chain writing about little league games, he also worked as a server at a local senior center.

After his time in Santa Barbara, Weber joined the staff of the Santa Maria Times in 1983. From there, he went on to work for The Tribune in San Luis Obispo as the City Editor in 2000, later moved up to the position of Managing Editor. Weber spent over a decade at The Tribune before joining The Fresno Bee in 2013 as the Metro Editor.

His favorite part of his position at the The Fresno Bee is the fact that he always knows what is going on. He also understands that his work touches lives and leaves an impact with such a large community to cover. Lastly, Weber enjoys the professional reporters he works with and takes pleasure in watching them grow, mature and become good at their craft.

Weber’s call to The Feather staff is to practice great journalism with the highest ideals of our profession while being accurate, fair and balanced. He challenged the group to write and edit in a variety of forms while being proficient in both time and quality. He also offered a critique of The Feather Online which the staff will discuss on Wednesday morning, Feb. 24.

For more on Scholastic Journalism week, follow @ScholasticJWeek and @JEADigitalMedia on Twitter.

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This writer can be reacher via Twitter: @_olivialoren_ or via email: Olivia Quebe.