Malika-Budur Kalila
Last month, ED Drantch, a reporter and anchor of 7 Eyewitness News team visited Niagara University and shared his work experience with Communication Studies students.
In 2015, Buffalo Broadcasters Association established the Peer 2 Peer Program which was developed to connect college and high school students with the broadcasting professionals of Western New York.
Drantch, who is a regional Emmy nominee of the New York state for his story on race and racial relations in the city of Buffalo, was recognized by the New York state Associated Press for his impressive work. Also, he was awarded a particular mention for Excellence in Individual Reporting.
During his speech, Drantch described his job to the students and shared his thoughts on investigative journalism. He gave examples from his own works and offered advices for future journalists. He suggested to work on content of the story and have accurate statistics. Drench also mentioned that a journalist needs to be able to deal with different people and different views, and present facts to the people instead of opinions.
“There are many people who have similar views and many people who have not similar at all,” Drantch said. “My job is not to take sides, my job is not to be judge or jury, my job is to present the facts.”
Drantch explained that some governor officials do not “necessarily like him” for exposing details of the issues. He also shared that journalists might face curse everyday, but it should not stop them to move on.
“At the end of the day our job is to make difference,” he added.
Joseph Sirianni, a Communication Studies Professor at NU also attended the event. As an instructor, he expressed that students who want to pursue career in journalism should not limit themselves with classroom learning, but need to interact with people who are working in the field.
“It’s not just but students learn in the classroom,” he said. “ “I think that it is extremely important and beneficial for our students to get insight from people who are actually in the industry.”
Photos by Hakan B. Karaaytu
