The School makes investigation possible in a way that is dynamic and fresh.

The School offers a rudimentary field experience for helping young writers and reporters to break through stereotypical reporting

By Mary Elizabeth King
Class of 2013, School of Authentic Journalism

May 15, 2015

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to express my commendation for the School of Authentic Journalism, for which I have served as faculty in the past.

Mary King during a plenary session of the 2013 School of Authentic Journalism

The School offers a rudimentary field experience for helping young writers and reporters to break through stereotypical reporting, journalism, and opinion by encouraging them to reach for deeper truths. Some participants are, despite their youth, mature professionals, who wish to avail themselves of an opportunity to stretch their analytical thinking. Instead of treading to market forces, at the School the participants are encouraged to think and experiment with methods for discerning unspoken presumptions, and to probe with atypical tools. For example, I was asked to lead a session on writing memoirs from within social movements.

Original thinking is rare in commercial media for many reasons, including the fact that encouragement for inventiveness is offered in a minimalist, circumscribed sense. At the School a high premium is placed on resourcefulness and ingenuity in probing critically important issues, including interrogating what makes for constructive nonviolent social and political change.

Within the safe enclave created by the School, intense sharing within interactive sessions among participants and faculty enables experimentation, testing, growth, and a secure place for new ideas, as well as the questioning and challenging of old notions.

It is no accident that Gandhi recommended that every campaign begin with “investigation.” The School makes investigation possible in a way that is dynamic and fresh.

Certainly the best discussion of reporting on women and violence in which I have participated in sixteen years of teaching gender and peacebuilding at the graduate level occurred at the School in 2013; it is worth noting that half the participants in the two-session discussion were male.

I am pleased to encourage your support, in part because I have the impression that the experience at the School is often transformational for the individuals involved, in the sense of altering perceptions and stimulating personal growth.

Sincerely yours,

Mary Elizabeth King, Ph.D.
Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies

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