Old Yellers Embarrass Me

By Katie Coleman

The best panels at SEJ — and at any conference, really — are those that bring all sides of an issue to light.

My favorite session and memory from my first SEJ conference, which was last year in Austin, Texas, was the climate change discussion moderated by Andy Revkin. Though I don’t remember the specific details, I do remember that one of the panelists was a former Bush advisor; he was obviously intelligent, articulate and motivated by forces other than those that inspire most SEJ members. On a subject on which we all most decidedly agree, his candor in representing the ‘other’ viewpoint was what made the panel interesting, informative and unique.

But, somewhat unfortunately, what sticks out most in my mind from this event was the embarrassing behavior of some of our fellow SEJ members and journalists.

There were those who, instead of seeing the session as an opportunity to learn from our invited guests, decided to use it as an opportunity to inflict their own viewpoints on the panel and its attendees through the mediums of shouting, interrupting and jeering.

In this our first day of “real” conferencing, I’ve already experienced this rude phenomenon twice: Once at this morning’s plenary session and again in the concurrent session on nuclear power. Both of these events presented intelligent, articulate panelists representing the views of real people in the real world outside of these conference walls. We may not all agree with those views, but, as journalists and as professionals, it is our job to at least listen to them.

I admire passion. And I embrace many of the liberal ideals so many of us entertain in our personal lives. But I do not support people who use boorish, disrespectful and unsophisticated behavior as a means to promote their own feelings and agendas. We are not here as a choir listening to preachers; we are here to learn from all our sources — environmental ‘friends’ and ‘foes’ alike. And I don’t think we’re being good journalists if we decide how we feel about a view, organization or representative before we even have a chance to hear them speak.