By Daniele Amandolini

Seth Koenig of the Bangor Daily News. Photo by Daniele Amandolini.

In a world in which news outlets are being attacked daily, it’s more important than ever to practice journalism with ethics and serve our communities thoroughly and without biases. We at the Beacon are committed to always grow and learn and make our readership proud of our work.

On Saturday, March 24, The Beacon attended a journalism workshop hosted by USM and their school publication, The Free Press. The event covered many facets of this fast changing industry, ranging from the technical side of how to conduct an interview and handle “sources”, to using social media to engage readers.

Jim Patrick, social media editor for the Portland Press Herald. Photo by Daniele Amandolini.

The event featured esteemed figures in local journalism, including representatives from the Bangor Daily News and the Portland Press Herald, all willing to share valuable information and eager to answer questions from the young high school and college students in attendance. While the way we are consuming news is shifting from paper to online, they all stressed the importance of providing quality news, no matter the format.

While The Beacon is a relatively small publication, we are dedicated to grow and learn to better serve each and every one of our readers, and this workshop was a great opportunity for us to meet professional reporters, photojournalists, and editors.

We would also like to commend the talented, hard working staff of The Free Press for putting together such a compelling event.

Fred Field, professor of the Communications and Media Studies department at USM. Photo by Daniele Amandolini.