UNC's loss is journalism's loss

Justin Steffen, my former student, died last week. He was only 22, but he was already a journalist making a difference.

Justin, pictured at right, graduated in May with majors in journalism and psychology. During his last semester at UNC, he took my Advanced News & Feature Writing class, the capstone course for all students emphasizing in news-editorial, or what we used to refer to as print journalism.

As part of the class, students are required to cover a beat. Justin chose to cover the Boys and Girls Clubs of Weld County. His investigative article examined how the club had canceled a popular prevention program. I really liked his lead on the story, which was published on the Greeley Tribune's Web site:

Anthony Montelongo is a 12-year-old Greeley resident. He has been a member of the Boys and Girls Club’s Painter Unit for about eight years. Until recently, he was also a member of the SMART (Skills Mastery And Resistance Training) Moves program. Montelongo said that the program has taught him not to do drugs and to respect other people. He also said that he thinks that all the other children should participate in the program.
“SMART Moves is fun. There are a lot of kids in it and it teaches you a lot,” Montelongo said. He said it should be one of the highest priorities for the club to get the program back.
The SMART Moves program is not being taught at either of the Boys and Girls Club units in Greeley. The reason that the program is not being taught is because of lack of staff to teach the program and lack of money to hire the staff, according to staff at the clubs. The program has not been run in the Painter or Pawl units since March.

I was impressed by Justin's ability to talk to that young man and tell his story. So many journalism students are afraid to tackle tough stories because they're afraid of asking hard questions of people they don't know. But that's journalism. If you want to make a difference, you have to do the hard work. Justin knew that.

Because he did the hard work, his story made a difference. I received an e-mail from Justin about a month after the article appeared on the Tribune's Web site. He said that although the club's director wasn't happy with the publicity, officials had decided to bring back the program. I am proud of what Justin did. We need more reporters like him in newsrooms across the United States.

Thank you Justin, for making a difference in Greeley, and for making a difference in my life.

Read Justin's articles in the Greeley Tribune:

• Local Boys and Girls Clubs drop prevention program
• Opinion: Boys and Girls Clubs need to stay open
• Boys and Girls Club's unit director leaves

Photo credit: Barry Lapoint