ABOUT
I guess you could say the essence of this entity began back in 2016 during my many hours of work on my senior capstone at the University of Oklahoma. As the Senior Producer for OU Nightly, the host of Sooner Sports Pad on Fox Sports Oklahoma, and a regular anchor on our newscast, my practical experience in the field of journalism was quite vast. Most of us students dreaded the approach of our capstone semester because we knew every minute spent studying history and theory was a minute spent away from the newsroom, and the news waits for nobody. What I didn't expect was for my capstone experience to enlighten my mind and open my eyes to the harsh realities facing the profession I so dearly loved.
The beginning of that semester consisted of mostly reading. As I scanned through page after page of endless articles and excerpts on things like the history of journalism, the original muckrakers, and how the professionals who came before us fought tooth and nail for freedom of the press, I was confused as to how any of this was going to help me get a job after graduation. "This is such a waste of time," I thought to myself, "I should be filming interviews and writing package scripts instead." But, alas, I continued half-heartedly keeping up with my assignments and doing just enough to get by. As the deadline to turn in our senior thesis topics quickly approached, I had no idea what I was going to write about. At the last minute, I decided to do my research on the transition of journalism into the digital age. Seemed easy enough, right? What unfolded in the weeks that followed ended up changing my life.
I remember my capstone professor talking in class about the core ethics of journalism and how important it is that journalists stay anchored to those ethics throughout their careers. He went on to discuss the definition of a "profession" and the criteria that must be met for a job to be considered as such. As I wrote my senior thesis on "The Transition of Journalism Into The Digital Age," it became apparent to me that these core ethics and journalism's status as a profession were in serious danger. My heavy research on the topic is essentially what led to me not pursuing a career in journalism.
The purpose of this website is not to tell anyone what is right or wrong, nor is it a rebellion against journalism. I am not trying to stop CNN or The New York Times from doing what they do each day. I'm not here to persecute the modern day journalist. There are many professional journalists out there who I respect greatly. The Court Report is simply a journalistic platform for me to do things my way and on my terms. My goal is to produce content that aligns with the core ethics of professional journalism while also promoting goodness and spreading joy. I aim to feature local people, places and topics to help spark an interest in people about the things that matter and to also highlight the hard work and dedication of those within our community. Most of my work will be human interest focused. Some of my material will be heavy while most of it will remain light and fun. Either way, I hope to create a chain reaction of positivity as I go!
**Disclaimer: My website also contains links to my podcast episodes and my personal blogs, which are both opinion pieces. These publications are based on my own perceptions and will sometimes contain partisan ideas. I will make sure to include tags that differentiate my journalistic pieces from my personal works.**
