Young journalist seeks to change media landscape

Jazmyn Burton | May 11, 2007 | Reproduced from ‘Temple Times‘

In the days after the tragic shooting at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Temple News editor-in-chief Charmie Snetter and her staff faced a decision.

Snetter knew that the paper had to address the incident, but she wanted to make sure that she and her staff approached the topic as responsible journalists.

“I don’t want to jump into the fray and create news before the news actually breaks,” Snetter, who is graduating from the School of Communications and Theater with a degree in journalism, told a team of editors. “Let’s not take the ‘will we be next?’ approach and sensationalize this tragedy any more than it has been.”

Her peers agreed. And together, they veered from the “if it bleeds, it leads” tradition of mainstream media outlets and worked together to plan an editorial that challenged readers to acknowledge the possible root of the tragedy.

From the rape accusations against three Duke University lacrosse teammates to the controversy surrounding radio host Don Imus and the Rutgers University women’s basketball team, the year’s events involving college students provided young journalists with a host of issues to explore and report.
Through it all, Snetter has encouraged her staff to exercise ethics and responsibility when reporting.

Under her leadership the Temple News won the Pacemaker from the Collegiate Press.

“I’m really focused on how I can better the media,” she said. “I love writing, but I’m also very interested in how people and communities are covered by news outlets and why certain stories get the attention they do.”

Her dedication to challenging readers to consider all of the facts led to a second-place Collegiate Keystone Award from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association for “Debating Identity,” a story she co-wrote with fellow journalism student Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman. The winning story explored tensions between African Americans and African immigrants.

“I wanted to really look at the root of the problem, explore where this tension developed and who’s promoting the idea that there is a division among Africans from the continent and Africans in the diaspora.”

A native of Monrovia, Liberia, Snetter immigrated to the Unites States with her family in 1996. She said her international background gives her a different perspective on the world.

She said her journalism courses helped her understand the business of writing for the media, but two classes offered by the African American Studies Department helped to round out her collegiate experience.

“’The Black Woman’ and ‘Intro to African-American Studies,’ were electives that I chose to add to my studies,” she said. “The classes aided me in exploring the life of the African in America and forced me to reframe how I have learned about my history and the history of all Africans.”

As for her postgraduate plans, Snetter landed a coveted Dow Jones Newspaper Fund graduate internship position with The Boston Globe. This summer she will begin working alongside seasoned editors on the Globe’s copy desk.

“The year went by so fast,” she said. “It’s been a very challenging, but rewarding year. I’m looking forward to working in the Globe’s newsroom and experiencing the mainstream media firsthand.”

This story was written by staff of Temple University’s Office of Communications, reproduced here for use by alumni of The Temple News. For the story in its original form, go here. Charmie Snetter, Class of 2007 and former Editor in Chief, is now a full-time copy editor for the Boston Globe.

(Photograph was taken by Ryan S. Brandenberg, courtesy of Temple University)