UGA writer gains experience on the go as a new journalist

University of Georgia student and Patch.com writer Daniel Burnett learned that accuracy is vital when covering crime stories.
Daniel spoke to journalism students at the University of Georgia Monday morning to discuss his experience covering his first crime story which involved the accused cop killer Jamie Hood’s Hostage situation.
Burnett emphasized how important it was not to use convicting words toward the suspect when writing the story.
During the investigation, Burnett gained information in various ways.
“Whenever I saw cops I would hit the breaks to find out what they were doing” said Burnett. Burnett said he also talked to bystanders during the hostage standoff to get their reaction and point of view.
While waiting for Hood to surrender to authorities, Burnett said he and a number of other journalists were only allowed to gain information from a nearby church where they all waited because they were not allowed on the scene.
When Hood surrendered, Burnett was able to capture the reaction of Hood’s family members. He described their reaction as “rough to watch”.
Burnett described covering the story as a challenge because he and his editor were the only two members involved in the coverage for Athens Patch.com.
“Every piece of information I would get, I would instantly email it to my editor” said Burnett.
Ironically, Burnett has never met his editor in person, but he admits that it takes a lot of trust and teamwork to cover a story with only two team members.
Burnett is set to graduate in May and intends on working for Patch.com in the future or possibly moving to Washington D.C to find work.

ACC committee set to adress potential city wide changes

The Athens County Clarke County Commission Committee met in an agenda setting Thursday night to discuss current issues in the county as well as proposals for improvements.
The committee spoke briefly of the problems that would be addressed at a later date and also covered the issues that they would resolve next week.
The Four subjects discussed at the meeting involved requests by the committee to develop multi-family housing, to renovate buildings to accommodate residents as well as rezoning specific acres for more development.
Each specific subject will either be approved or denied by the Voting Committee once meetings are resumed.
Other topics at hand included The Plaza and Hill St, abandonment of East Hancock Ave and Athens Clarke County Jail expansion.

Pressure by Georgian Government motivates Journalist to be Pro active with new media

The attempts of pressure by the Georgia government only motivate journalist to be successful in their responsibility to their audiences to give accurate information regarding current issues.
A group of six radio and newspaper journalists from the Georgia visited the University of Georgia Monday to explain the state of news and media in their environment and to learn from American media culture.
The trip to the University of Georgia was funded by the open world program, a program in collaboration with the U.S. congress.
There are many government restrictions on the media outlets, but journalist agree that Journalism is progressing and gaining more freedom.
“The Georgian government often tries to “pressure” or threaten radio stations and websites that tell Georgian citizens information that they otherwise wouldn’t know” said Khatuna Gogashvili.
“The effect of this is bad for local radio stations as the government blocks information from the media and access to the information becomes more limited. Because of this, local outlets are the last to get information and often get the news when the story has lost its effect.”
“Media is a very competitive field” said Khatuna Barbakadze. “It is risky and often requires a strong competitive nature to be successful.”
In spite of the government turmoil, there has been an upside to being in the field of media. Digital media has had a massive affect on communication in the nation of Georgia.
Journalist and television personnel have started to use Facebook to communicate with each other as well as their audience.
“In the month of February Georgia had the largest amount of new Facebook Users” said Irina Arabidze.
“This new media has allowed information to be spread independently and not be monitored by government” stated Khatuna Barbakadze. Because of the digital media the Georgian journalist have a newfound hope of one day being the free speaking nation it envisions.
The experience and information gained from visiting the United States hopes to give the journalist more motivation to make Georgia a nation with limitless possibilities and a bigger variety of trustworthy outlets to news and media.