How I Avoid Bias
As a student who has always been active within their school, avoiding bias has been a struggle of mine since I first began in journalism. I found that covering other groups I was involved in, such as the marching band or the soccer team, made it difficult for me to avoid bias. However, I still made the effort and I have since become a better journalistic writer because of it.
I first practiced writing in the third person point of view. The story wasn’t mine, so writing from that perspective would obstruct the the initial. I wrote without involving myself in the story, to keep my opinion completely uninvolved.
When I wrote I also avoided writing editorially. I tried to avoid using over the top words to describe or relate to something which in turn would skew the opinion of the reader. I was careful about my word choice, trying to always keep my opinion from inhibiting the story and our audience.
Whenever I’m reading or writing a story, I always ask myself the question, “who said this?” If I can logically support it with quotes and evidence from the story, then it’s not writer biased information. It’s a constant question of “who says?” and if it’s not supported then it’s biased and it needs to be taken out.
I think teaching oneself to avoid bias within their writing is a skill that takes time. It’s a habit one learns and a habit that is hard to break, but I think that over the years I’ve taught myself and become more aware the bias within my writing.
As a student who has always been active within their school, avoiding bias has been a struggle of mine since I first began in journalism. I found that covering other groups I was involved in, such as the marching band or the soccer team, made it difficult for me to avoid bias. However, I still made the effort and I have since become a better journalistic writer because of it.
I first practiced writing in the third person point of view. The story wasn’t mine, so writing from that perspective would obstruct the the initial. I wrote without involving myself in the story, to keep my opinion completely uninvolved.
When I wrote I also avoided writing editorially. I tried to avoid using over the top words to describe or relate to something which in turn would skew the opinion of the reader. I was careful about my word choice, trying to always keep my opinion from inhibiting the story and our audience.
Whenever I’m reading or writing a story, I always ask myself the question, “who said this?” If I can logically support it with quotes and evidence from the story, then it’s not writer biased information. It’s a constant question of “who says?” and if it’s not supported then it’s biased and it needs to be taken out.
I think teaching oneself to avoid bias within their writing is a skill that takes time. It’s a habit one learns and a habit that is hard to break, but I think that over the years I’ve taught myself and become more aware the bias within my writing.
Cheerleading State Championship
This year my school's cheer team lost their three year winning streak in the 2018 state championship. It was both mine and my co-editors' job to cover this event with our December sports spread. Considering I have several friends on the cheer team. The Story The reigning state champion cheerleading team for the last three years met the end of their streak in the 2018 cheerleading state championship. Despite the team’s confidence, the outcome of state was still not what was expected. “State didn’t go so well. We put out the best performance we’d had all year, but it just wasn’t enough I guess,” Hannah Corley, 11, said. Even with the loss, the team was still proud of what they achieved with their routine. “We were all very upset and heartbroken, but you know we are Runner-Ups. Our names might not have even been called, so, I mean, State Runner-Up is better than nothing,” Brady Quick, 12, said. “I’m still proud of our team and everything we did.” To help prepare for the competition, the cheerleaders had practiced both at school and at Cheer City United in Little Rock. “For cheer state we practiced almost everyday. We really worked hard trying to hit our stunts and trying to make sure our stunts were consistent and our tumbling was consistent,” Alaina Allen, 11, said. “We tried to prepare as much as possible.” Though this was some of the members last chance to compete in the state competition, the underclassmen still had another year to try for a win. “This can be motivation for them [the underclassmen] to try their hardest and to make sure that we have another state title, because I feel like they’re going to put their best foot forward and be really good leaders,” Quick said. |
Interviews
Brady Quick, 12 How did you feel going into the competition? “We went into the competition really confident that we could take home another state title.” How did you guys end up doing at the competition? “We hit a perfect routine, but you know we can’t control what the judges say and we were all very upset and heartbroken, but you know we are Runner-Ups so I mean our names might not have even been called so I mean State Runner-Up is better than nothing.” How do you feel because of the loss, and how do you think this will affect the underclassmen who still have a chance to compete next year? “I’m still proud of our team and everything we did. This can be motivation for them [the underclassmen] to try their hardest and to make sure that we have another state title, because I feel like they’re going to put their best foot forward and be really good leaders.” I know the team has had a three year streak of winning at the state championship, so how does it feel to break that? “It was heartbreaking at first, but then you have to realize then you know that I’ve won two in a row and maybe it was their turn to win so you know it’s okay.” How do you feel about still being able to compete at Nationals? “We’re still able to go to Nationals so we are still going to go to Orlando, Florida. We know the competition is going to be very hard, but we are going to do our very best.” How have you been preparing for Nationals? “We practice every single morning, and this week we have two early morning practices with Blake [outside coach] and so we’re going to have to be at the school at 6:55 and we’re going to be practicing for an hour so we’re doing everything we can to prepare.” Alaina Allen, 11 How did the team prepare for the state competition? “For cheer state we practiced almost everyday. We really worked hard trying to hit our stunts and trying to make sure our stunts were consistent and our tumbling was consistent. We tried to prepare as much as possible. We didn’t want to leave anything to chance.” How did the team end up doing at the competition? “Well we hit zero. We had a great routine, probably the best routine we had all season and our stunts hit. It was perfect, we had a perfect routine. Then Lakeside had a very good routine, they had a couple of mess up, but they still had a very good routine. I’m not saying they did terrible. The ended up winning by less than point because of our difficulty, and how it [our routine] was different than theirs. It upset me at the time, it still upsets me, but you know it is what it is. It’s not up to me. It was up to the judges, cheer is a very wishy-washy sport. We can’t change it now.” How do you think this loss will affect you as an underclassmen considering you still have another year to compete? “I think it will help the people in my grade work harder to prove people wrong next year and have us push the upcoming tenth graders, and have the juniors to push harder and to get better so we can win next year.” How is the team preparing for Nationals considering your still able to compete? “We’re still working for Nationals, upping our difficulty, fixing our routine, changing anything that needs to be changed and we’re just working to be the best we can be then, because that’s the best we can do.” Hannah Corley, 11 How did the team prepare for the state competition? “We just went through and we trained really hard and we were just really focused on one goal and the goal was obviously to win and just having the mindset that if we prepared and we gave everything we had and practiced, practiced, practiced then we could win.” How did you end up doing at the competition? “State didn’t go so well. We put out the best performance we’d had all year, but it just wasn’t enough I guess. Even though the outcome wasn’t what we wanted the feeling of being able to put something out there that you’re really proud of that was the best. Then lakeside had some bobbles that we just didn’t quite agree with, but cheer is just a very very judging sport. It’s not like you have set rules, like if you score in football then you get the point, cheer is very opinionated, and so it’s what the judges think you did.” How do you think this loss will change how you prepare the team next year? “We need to make sure that everyone is set on one goal and just train the new sophomores and juniors. We just want to be able to show them that we can bring it back and have them be able to feel what we felt our sophomore year when we got to win.’” ***To make sure all of the information gathered was accurate I researched the results of the competition, and interviewed the coach of the cheer team. |