GRAND FORKS — UND journalism graduate Mike Nowatzki, who now is communications director for the Office of Gov. Doug Burgum, hopes the re-establishment of UND’s journalism program will help alleviate what he believes is a decrease of objectivity in journalism.
Nowatzki, who has 18 years of journalism experience, said the return of UND’s journalism program is important for the next generation of diverse young reporters in an age that sees more people question if objectivity is even needed in the profession anymore.
He was the keynote speaker on Thursday, April 25 at UND's Communication Appreciation Day, which this year also served as the Department of Communication’s centennial celebration. During the event, Nowatzki and other speakers praised the return of a journalism major at UND, starting with the upcoming fall semester.
“I have hope because there are people in this room, across this state in media outlets and organizations, like the North Dakota Newspaper Association and (North Dakota) Broadcasters Association and, yes, even people in the government who understand the importance of journalism in a democracy and in a functioning society where citizens are provided with the accurate information they need to make informed sound decisions and hold government accountable,” Nowatzki said. “And so 100 years after it first began here at UND, you are willing to invest in re-establishing the journalism major to train students to fill those crucial roles as watchdogs and storytellers. And that gives me hope for the future of journalism in North Dakota.”
Nowatzki’s lecture, titled “Just the Facts: Observations from the ‘Dark Side’ on the Demise of Objectivity in Journalism” was part of the Hagerty Lecture Series, established in 1994 by the Hagerty family, whose patriarch, Jack, was a longtime editor at the Grand Forks Herald.
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Nowatzki’s lecture kicked off Communication Appreciation Day following introductions and congratulations offered by multiple UND staff: Soojung Kim, chair of the Department of Communication; Andrew Armacost, UND’s president; Eric Link, provost of academic affairs; and Brad Rundquist, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. A brief history of the Department of Communications was also told by sophomore Taylor Hess and Grand Forks Public Information Officer John Bernstrom, who is a UND alumnus.
Each speaker voiced their own rendition of wishing the department well on its centennial and also the importance of both the department and communication as a whole. Link, for example, voiced that it is no small feat for the department to turn 100, as some academic disciplines haven’t existed for as long. The centennial celebration, he said, “signals first and foremost the value of the work going on in the sphere of communication here at the University of North Dakota.”
“When we study communication in all its aspects, we’re studying what it means to be human, and what it means for humans to make themselves known and understood to other humans,” he said. “This is a profound and noble enterprise.”
UND alumna KayCee Koster has her own appreciation for the department. She took communication as a minor and graduated in 2017, and now works as a marketing coordinator.
She came to Communication Appreciation Day because she likes the opening, welcoming community in the department and will take any opportunity to support it, as well as Soojung Kim and Joonghwa Lee, an associate professor in the department.
“I really appreciated them when I was here,” she said. “I think (the department turning 100) obviously gives the department power and credibility. It makes it even more amazing that they’re constantly doing things to upgrade and evolve.”
Nowatzki's hope for the future of the department and the return of the journalism program stems from what he sees as a decline in journalistic objectivity in the past years. He said there has been a rise in journalists voicing their personal beliefs on social media, which he views as something that could call their credibility and trust in the eyes of their audience into question. He has also seen stories that tell one side of a conflict or issue, people on social media doing their own form of journalism that isn't fact-checked and a blurring line between journalism and activism.
Some people, he said, have questioned if objectivity should be a goal in journalism anymore and by whose standards is something objective. In Nowatzki's opinion, objectivity is endangered, which is why he hopes the journalism program trains students to uphold quality journalism.
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"We need trained journalists in North Dakota who are invested in our state, who care about what's happening here, care about writing for their communities, and having a quality journalism program at UND can only help," he said. "People need accurate information they can use to discern the truth and make informed decisions."
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