I started taking journalism classes in middle school and enjoyed it so much that I transferred to Northwest High which offers an academy for media. Through this academy, I went on to national competitions and conferences (Student Television Network) and even helped the school win an Emmy from the Lone Star Emmy chapter. After spending all of that time working with different clients for countless video and written stories, I was more than thrilled to attend ACU and be hired by both ACUTV and The Optimist. 

During my time at The Optimist, I have noticed that some of the community seem to have an unwavering distaste for stories that we release. This distaste and disapproval sometimes seems to stem from bad personal interactions, unsure perspectives on journalistic reporting or not meeting departmental expectations. 

I want to be the first of many to come out and say that at The Optimist we hear you. 

There have been multiple times that stories, while started with good intention, were incorrectly written giving off a certain bias or perspective that ruined the story entirely. It is no secret that staff and reporters in the past (and present) have made mistakes and incorrectly published information leading to issues with the perception of an individual, team or organization.

The largest gap between the consumer and the staff that I want to address is that we are not sitting up in a high castle, writing whatever we want and putting it on the internet without remorse. We have countless meetings and conversations where we address faults and flaws. At The Optimist, there is no ‘personal agenda’ that anyone is trying to actively push, we are also not sponsored by anyone to report something in a certain light or manner. 

In no way am I approaching this subject to try to stop the interaction between our staff and the readers, all comments help us gauge where the public opinion stands. This is written because I want to talk about how we have journalistic standards that we are held by through both personal morals and departmental standards. Should you feel so inclined, here is the ethics code that we follow. While these guidelines and standards of operation are in place, that does not mean that we are also not students learning along the way. 

With all of that being said, I personally and openly invite any and all comments or criticisms about the student journalism here at ACU.

Even though we are going to approach challenging or difficult topics through our reporting, please bear in mind that this is how real world journalism operates. ACU actively strives to prepare students as accurately as they can before entering the workforce and the JMC department will not fall short on that behalf.