The reason that I want to be a journalist

By Jane Lee

Exactly a week after I got back to Korea for a vacation, on April 16^th, 2014, I woke up earlier than usual due to some noise from the living room. Some breaking news was on TV. In the ocean near Jindo in the southern sea of Korea, over 300 beautiful young students’ lives were taken away by a huge accident. The passenger ship Sewol sank, and more than 300 people died in that most tragic disaster. The casualties who were on the ship that had left Incheon port to Jeju Island for a school trip.

I rushed to the accident scene to give a hand with some local volunteers. During that time, I saw the reality that I still don’t want to believe. Among the volunteers, there were private divers who rushed to the port to save the children and underwater equipment that could be used for a long time in the rescue as well as fishermen who were standing by with their boats and waiting to be called to the scene. However, the government’s lukewarm measures prevented them from taking immediate actions for some reason, and even any major press did not report the real voices of the families.

All the families, volunteers and I paid full attention to the news reporting all day to check if there were any hopes to save even just one more child, but what media mainly talked about was politicians who were blaming each other and even reported wrong fact-that the progress of rescue got difficult because the families used violence against the public servants. I was really shocked because I was there and it was obviously not the truth. What I had expected from the media was that they would stick to their will to pursue justice and report as it is. But the reality is that most of the Korean press have grown as a business that only seeks profit and disregards the truth so not to lose favor with influential people, especially the Korean government. I realized how important truthful reporting was while going through this accident. This led me to become determined to be an honest journalist who maintains the conscience in announcing the truth and reflects people’s voice as well as possible in this country where the true media is rarely found now.  

As a human being and a member of society, I am able to think and understand things independently, so my goal is to influence and contribute to society’s development. I am confident that transferring to the Hubbard school at U of M will be the first step that will lead me to achieve my goal. Journalism can study the most recent social issues and events to analyze why it happens especially at the moment in current society. During the program, I am so excited that I can get opportunities to share ideas from various people who have different backgrounds, stories, cultures, and perspectives by the discussions in the class. Especially, as a foreigner who was born and raised in different country, I have been developing my global views and understandings of the diversity since I came to the state, but I still want to keep communicating with other people to open my eyes widely, so that I can be a critical thinker who isn’t stereotyped, limited and conventional.

I want to be a broadcaster who interacts directly with audiences by media. In the rapidly developing society, people tend to recognize the positive changes and advantages of media and try to adapt to them quickly rather than to face the risks and dangers. I want to play a role to give opportunities to general people to do so because my experience always reminds me of the reality in the Korean press. I want to learn by observing every single step in the newsroom, how to produce news and story to deliver the messages efficiently and exactly, new technics and skills related to media, the social responsibilities and also how to be a credible journalist. I will become a journalist who reflects the genuine aspects of the society in the right way, acting up to my belief in the true journalism based on the expertise and experiences I will gain at school.