International Day of Peace Inspires Hope Everywhere

By Stuart Knechtle

            Wenham, MA—What if you could free those who are utterly stifled by fear? The International Day of Peace is part of a growing effort to do just that. Gordon College celebrated September 21^st, the day that was declared by the U.N. to honor and respect peace everywhere. Throughout the day there were talks given by people such as Dr. David Steele to help Gordon students get a better understanding of what the day stands for and how we can help promote peace everywhere.

            A movie was played at the end of the celebration called Little town of Bethlehem. In the movie we see Palestinian and Israeli citizens trying to bridge the chasm that has separated the two ethnic groups for so long. “The movie pulled in interesting facts that most people who knew a little about the situation didn’t fully know about yet” said Stephanie Goethner a senior communication arts major. Dr. David Steele said that by learning more about the situation we will become more hopeful for the future.

Good Night, and Good Luck (practicing ethical journalism)

When I watched the movie Good Night and Good Luck, I saw the assiduous efforts of honest reporters present their audience with news that they needed to know. Edward R. Murrow lead the way as he put his job on the line in order to remain faithful to the truth. Even though he would eventually be demoted to Sunday afternoon show time (in which he chose to leave CBS instead of report on Sundays) he left an indelible mark on his viewers because he did not see the ends of his reporting justifying the means.
Edward R. Murrow was able to leave CBS with a clear conscience and a dignity that was built on “being loyal to the audience.” Instead of being agenda driven, and having a political bias, he took the hard way out and reported the news that every reporter was too timid to report. Even when Murrow’s boss said, “We don’t make the news Ed, we report on the news,” Murrow knew that although this was true, it is also the reporters duty and obligation to report all of the facts to his audience in order to let the audience decide on the matters themselves.
In Elements of Journalism we read about comprehensiveness and the importance of not leaving out important details. Murrow did just that as he uncovered Joseph Mcarthy’s ploy to slander against those who he accused as communists. In Murrow’s farewell speech he talked about journalism as an instrument that shouldn’t be used to simply entertain but that it should teach and inspire. He went on to say that this can only be done though “when people have the determination to use it towards those ends, otherwise it is only wires and a box.”

Christopher Samuel Finds New Opportunities at Gordon College

By Stuart Knechtle

            Wenham, MA—When Christopher Samuel received his letter of acceptance to Gordon College, a lifetime of dreams had finally been fulfilled. Samuel, 18, a freshman Biblical Studies Major, was the third in line behind his grandfather and father to migrate over to the U.S. from Bangalore, India. Just like his grandfather and father, ever since Christopher was a young boy he had aspirations of getting a fine Christian education in the U.S. so he could help spread the gospel throughout his homeland.

“Although I had never seen Gordon before, my dad had taught at Gordon-Conwell and Gordon scholars had come to my house for missions work when I was younger. We became close friends and I learned much about what it would be like to go to Gordon College.”

Upon arriving to Gordon, he immediately saw cultural differences. He could not believe when he saw a Gordon student acting chummy with his dad. Samuel said that this would’ve definitely been seen as a major sign of disrespect if it was done in India. “Never in my life have I even hinted jokingly at calling my dad by his first name.”

Samuel already has a reputation around campus for having flawless dance moves and a superb talent for cooking Indian food. “I saw him try out for Sweaty Tooth and even though he didn’t know any particular moves, he tore up the dance floor. He also makes the best Indian food I have ever had even though it leaves quite the scent around here” said freshman sweet mate Luke Miller, 18.

Samuel has also been immersing himself in extracurricular activities around campus. “It was nice seeing Chris, not only as a freshman but also as an international student, getting involved with the student body. It was the first meeting for the Idiom to see who was interested in working on this semester’s first publication” said senior Christian Brink, 21, an English Major at Gordon College. Samuel looks forward to getting involved even more at Gordon in the future.

Jody Hassett Sanchez on Journalism

Stuart Knechtle
I was lucky enough to listen three times to Jody Hassett Sanchez when she came to Gordon last week and it didn’t take long for me to understand why she has had such a successful career as a journalist. One of the very first points she made during her talk on Thursday was giving people news that hits them directly in the heart. Films or stories like this make people want to move away from passivity towards action. She said that this takes “compelling characters and good stories.” She went on to say that you can’t just stop there though, but that you also have to help your reader or audience feel like they are relating to the characters. Specifically, she said that in her film she wanted her viewers to meet the children, not simply give them an idea or statistic about them. This point ran right alongside her starting point on Friday when she said, “How do you show faith in Journalism and not just talk about it?” She was sounding the call for us as Christian journalists to get out there and make things happen by living out what we believe. Sanchez said that even though our news universe has splintered through decentralization, we as journalists can still make a difference for good if we keep God as our boss and never feel like we should assume his position by judging others.

Classic Book Remains Relevant For Mojos

By Stuart Knechtle


Wenham, MA—“I think that Zinsser encourages us to keep on going when the going gets tough. He makes us realize what the words are that we use and why we use them” said Alyssa Maine, 21. It has been almost 35 years since William Zinsser wrote his book On Writing Well, yet his magnificent piece remains germane to journalists who are looking to improve their writing. Zinsser’s piece draws in the reader early on by making an appeal to humanity and warmth when chasing down a story.

“Good writing has an aliveness that keeps the reader reading from one paragraph to the next, and it’s not a question of gimmicks to “personalize” the author. It’s a question of using the English language in a way that will achieve the greatest clarity and strength” Zinsser says in his first chapter.

This kind of advice that Zinsser gives is a fresh way of understanding for writers in today’s multifaceted media world. With our technologically invaded world, Zinsser calls us back to writing in its most rudimentary form. This kind of writing, he says, is how we draw our audience in and keep them.

“I really liked how blunt he was in telling us how to be good journalists […] I can easily apply that and become a better journalist” said Angela Rodriguez, 20. Above all, Zinsser practices what he preaches and gives it to the reader straight.

Rodriguez summed up what Zinsser does for most journalists, which is to give them a way to become better writers without dancing around the issue. In his book, he talks about simplifying your work in order to make things easier on your reader. In doing so, your audience won’t become distracted and start to daydream.

He also talks about being yourself in a piece and not sounding differently just because you have picked up a piece of paper and pen. He calls us to be ourselves and in doing so we should be writing about things we, as writers, are interested in.

Gordon Community informed by variety of news sources

By Stuart Knechtle

Wenham MA- When Gordon College student, Alyssa Baker, was sitting in class one day; she saw one of her classmates on BBCNews.com. Ever since her early teens, Baker had received her news from news sources that were nationally focused. It was rare for her to even see news articles that approached topics in other counties. In astonishment, she watched her classmate browse stories that were all based in many countries around the world. Baker’s next move reshaped the way she would receive her news for years and years to come.

           From that day on, Baker began getting her news from BBCNews.com. Even when she searched the news on television Baker would always turn to the BBC News Channel.

        Baker said, “I had always felt a kind of guilt over the kind of news I received. When I would get my news from other news sources, I would only be updated on news that was occurring in the U.S. But, fortunately BBC News helped me get news outside of my own country.”

         Dan Castelline of Concord, Mass. was another student who had this similar feeling before he had made the switch to BBC News. “I used to watch my local news channel for all my news. If I didn’t get my news that way, I would just use whatever site popped up on my homepage to get my news. I drew a much wider knowledge of news once I read BBC. Not only is it well organized, but it allows you to be internationally literate and understand culture outside of your own.”

         Baker and Castelline strum a similar tune as they both have now changed from old news sources that were nationally focused, to BBC News, which is internationally focused. They both appealed to a similar feeling of knowledge that was circumscribed to only their own countries. Baker even went as far as to say that she felt a type of guilt over this. This guilt was formed by her previous news sources that built up an ethnocentric attitude that she formed over the years. Now that she is getting international news and updates though, she feels well cultured and guilt free. Both Castelline and Baxter both feel well updated and in tuned to not only their own cultures, but also the entire world around them.