The Feedsack Dress

Detonating an atomic bomb

During World War II the Soviet Union fought with the United States. By 1949, the Soviet Union had become the major threat to peace. 

The American public became aware of how serious a threat on September 23, 1949. That day President Harry S. Truman announced that the Soviets had exploded an atomic bomb.

Fear of an attack grew and grew. Some people built their own bomb shelters and stocked them with food, water, blankets, and other basic supplies. Across the country school children learned to duck under their desks at the threat of an attack. 

The Cold War continued for most of the rest of the century—until the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

No one teaches students to duck under their desks anymore. But once again Russia, the dominant force in the Soviet Union, seems headed for a new period of confrontation. Vladimir Putin hasn’t renewed the Cold War, but he’s put a chill in the air. 

—Carolyn Mulford

Celebrating a milestone in journalism

A hundred years ago a former newspaperman named Walter Williams founded the world’s first school of journalism at the University of Missouri, Columbia. He set out to prepare young people for a profession by combining academics and practical experience.

 

In 1908 writing and editing a city newspaper furnished most of the experience. Today the experience includes radio and television broadcasting and online publishing.  

 

September 10-12, 2008, more than a thousand graduates of that school—including me—returned to celebrate the school’s centennial and honor the principles Williams set down. The alumni came from around the United States and from several other countries, including China, one of the first nation’s to send students to the school.

 

The journalists gave a nod to the past, but the major topic of discussion was what comes next. Most agreed that the future contains less print and more online publishing, more and more of it to be delivered on mobile devices. Many worried about how news organizations can earn enough money to research, write, and distribute in-depth news.

 

In 1908, Williams and others were seeking new models. In 2008, we are again seeking new models. Many of the speakers at the Centennial are experimenting.

 

The participants expressed many views—and uncertainties—on what the future holds, but virtually all endorsed the principles stated in the Journalist’s Creed written by Walter Williams.

 

Two of the Creed’s key statements follow.

 

“I believe that the public journal is a public trust; that all connected with it are, to the full measure of their responsibility, trustees for the public; that acceptance of a lesser service than the public service is betrayal of this trust.

 

“I  believe that clear thinking and clear statement, accuracy and fairness are fundamental to good journalism.”

 

—Carolyn Mulford