Sooner than later
The third one…
Rival schools teamed up for the first Midwestern Muslimedia. On April 15, SPJ chapters at the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University co-hosted an intimate gathering for 29 people at the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City.
Barbara Allen, who advises the Oklahoma State SPJ chapter, says attendance “was actually pretty remarkable considering the event was held the Saturday before Easter,” when many students go home.
Judy Gibbs Robinson, adviser of the University of Oklahoma SPJ chapter, moderated the discussion with a panel of “three Muslims-who-are-not-journalists and three journalists-who-are-not-Muslims.”
Explains Robinson…
I deliberately avoided inviting religion writers because I wanted reporters with no special knowledge about Islam. So I was surprised by how much our three journalists actually knew. Each had reported previously on stories involving Muslims. Unfortunately, those stories tended to be about vandalism and violence against the community.
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