Week 4: Assignment and Student Response

ThursdayDec 7 at 10:57pm

Manage Discussion Entry

I think that cultural competence is paramount to being a successful reporter. If a reporter is unable to culturally understand the people involved in a news story, as well as the viewership/readership of that news story, then they are not able to fully deliver a well-rounded or all-encompassing version of the story.

The assigned reading, At the Community Level: Cultural Competence and News Coverage of a City Neighborhood, defines cultural competence as "the extent to which individuals develop the awareness, knowledge, and skills necessary to understand and work effectively with communities and people from diverse cultures" (Garyantes, 2012). Therefore, in my own community, reporters could not be successful without cultural competence. I live in an extremely diverse community with citizens from countless socioeconomic backgrounds and the inability to interact and communicate with those people would hinder any news report.

With the growth of diversity and cross-culture interaction happening in the world, which I believe is largely due to technology, the concept of cultural competence has expanded beyond the journalism profession. When I was reviewing varying analysis and commentary on cultural competency for this assignment, I came across an overwhelming amount of information geared toward teaching cultural awareness in schools and varying professions. This vast amount of information lends to my belief that cultural competence is necessary for daily living, even beyond the workplace.

One article about enhancing a student's cultural competence stated that "it is not sufficient to teach cultural knowledge or language proficiency," (Bertolo & Kratzke, 2013). Further saying that we must learn to examine our own cultural knowledge, values, and beliefs to improve our cultural competence; otherwise, our perceptions can limit our willingness to work with other cultures.

I wholeheartedly agree with this statement in regards to the journalistic profession. To work with and report on topics that effect a multitude of backgrounds, our perception of those varying cultures will be reflected in the stories we deliver. And if, as reporters, we have a limited or obscured perception, I believe it can only hinder our work. Garyantes wrote, "the ways in which reporters are influenced by their social groups and personal experiences have the potential to affect the way in which they perceive and report on culturally diverse communities and culturally different 'Others.' These perceptions can make their way into news content, and audiences could in turn be influenced by these texts" (2012). This makes demonstrating cultural competence and absolute necessity in news reporting.

Tiffany VanVolkinburg

References

Garyantes, D. M. (2012). At the community level: Cultural competence and news coverage of a city neighborhood. Community Journalism, 1(46). Retrieved from http://journal.community-journalism.net/sites/default/files/garyantes-cj1-2012.pdf (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Kratzke, C., & Bertolo, M. (2013). ENHANCING STUDENTS' CULTURAL COMPETENCE USING CROSS-CULTURAL EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING. Journal Of Cultural Diversity, 20(3), 107-111.