J-Day keeps politicians honest
Patrick Haynes
Issue date: 10/23/09 Section: News
To celebrate Western Illinois University's annual Journalism Day, Bernie Schoenburg, a political-columnist and reporter for the Springfield State Journal-Register, spoke to a group of students in the University Union Heritage Ballroom on Monday.
Schoenburg, who has worked at the State Journal-Register since 1992, spoke about topics he has covered such as the removal of former Governor Rod Blagojevich, the inauguration of President Barack Obama and the arrest of former Governor George Ryan.
Schoenburg spent most of his speech, which was entitled "Politics: Keeping them Honest," talking about his encounters with politicians, but also touched upon what it takes to make it in journalism.
"If I didn't like to talk politics, I shouldn't be doing what I'm doing. We should remember what politicians say might not always be the truth," Schoenburg said.
He then told the audience about some of the columns he wrote and the stories behind them. One story involved Obama, who was then a state senator running for the United States Senate.
"Back in 2004, after Obama won the nomination for senate, his Republican opponent was Jack Ryan," Schoenburg said. "Ryan had a news conference at the state house where he told reporters that Obama signed 428 tax and fee increases. I looked into it and half of the cases were small increases while the other half Obama voted against. What makes it worse was that Ryan didn't even know the details of the bills himself."
He also gave tips to the audience of 100 viewers, of which 48 were high school students.
"Our job as journalists is to report what they say and quote them as saying it so it's their responsibility," Schoenburg said. "A reporter's reputation is based on every story that you do. The search for truth has always been a constant, and that is still evident today. Also, if you have something difficult to ask, you should ask them openly. If you ask directly and they know it's coming, they will thank you for it later."
Schoenburg, who has worked at the State Journal-Register since 1992, spoke about topics he has covered such as the removal of former Governor Rod Blagojevich, the inauguration of President Barack Obama and the arrest of former Governor George Ryan.
Schoenburg spent most of his speech, which was entitled "Politics: Keeping them Honest," talking about his encounters with politicians, but also touched upon what it takes to make it in journalism.
"If I didn't like to talk politics, I shouldn't be doing what I'm doing. We should remember what politicians say might not always be the truth," Schoenburg said.
He then told the audience about some of the columns he wrote and the stories behind them. One story involved Obama, who was then a state senator running for the United States Senate.
"Back in 2004, after Obama won the nomination for senate, his Republican opponent was Jack Ryan," Schoenburg said. "Ryan had a news conference at the state house where he told reporters that Obama signed 428 tax and fee increases. I looked into it and half of the cases were small increases while the other half Obama voted against. What makes it worse was that Ryan didn't even know the details of the bills himself."
He also gave tips to the audience of 100 viewers, of which 48 were high school students.
"Our job as journalists is to report what they say and quote them as saying it so it's their responsibility," Schoenburg said. "A reporter's reputation is based on every story that you do. The search for truth has always been a constant, and that is still evident today. Also, if you have something difficult to ask, you should ask them openly. If you ask directly and they know it's coming, they will thank you for it later."
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