A new website is raising eyebrows on college campuses across the country. Professor Watchlist asks students to document and expose instructors who, according to the site, 'discriminate against conservative students, promote anti-American values and advance leftist propaganda in the class room.' This website is causing controversy over all college campuses.
Controversial Website'
The site, Professor Watchlist , says it names those instructors who 'advance a radical agenda in lecture halls.' The goal of the site is to post professor who have records of targeting students and harming them for standing up for their beliefs.
The First amendment provides us a number of freedoms, including the freedom of speech. Professor Watchlist is seen as a threat to academic freedom.'Teachers all over college campuses are speaking out on this certain issues. The site ties into the issues that the country faces today and even after the election of Donald Trump.
The professors who tend to be reported are historians or political science instructors. Over hundreds of professors have been filed through the website, each for many different reasons. The numbers will continue to rise if the site continues to spread throughout college campuses. Will it reach the University of Illinois campus? History Professor Kristen Hoganson says, “Why not? For example, I hardly ever go to rate my professor but every once in a while i go, but it’s amazing with some of the stuff.”
At the same time, this has brought the idea of what were to happen if the two roles of professor and student were switched. In this case, 'the teacher would post about the student. This and along with other controversy’s has led this site to the belief of' that “there’s no such thing as bad publicity”.
Tune into the full story/audio package right here!
Reflection
This assignment was the most stressful one yet. There was a lot of confusion when I was working on it and my classmates felt the same way. Heading into the topic, I had an idea on what I wanted to do. But, as Dr. Collins and my other journalism professors reiterated, you need a plan B,C,D, etc. My first topic was going to be on my english class due to how to integrates video games and literature, pretty cool right. When that blew up, I was struggling to find a story. Until, I remember weeks ago about this website that allows students to expose teachers. That stood out to me, so I did my research and interviews as quickly as I could. All in all, it all worked out and I am pretty proud of my audio package. This assignment was way different than the previous ones, because this assignment brought my voice into it. It is always weird hearing yourself and practicing what you’re saying. Hopefully my voice is “newsy” enough and makes the package engaging and interesting. 'I really haven’t done anything like this and it just opened me into the real world. In this class I really feel like we get to be a real journalist since everything is published online, it really prepares me for what lies forward. Overall, I feel like I did a good job, and I really hope you guys do as well!!
-Roger
One thought on “Someone Is Always Watching”
Hey Roger! I Thought that your topic was really interesting, and I hadn’t ever heard of it before. I think people on both sides of almost all arguments can sometimes have a hard time not letting their opinions influence what they teach. I think you did a good job of remaining un-biased in your reporting, and keeping it focused! I think your sources were really good also, and provided you with good soundbites. I think it’s really interesting to hear the different opinons on the ways to rate professors, and also make sure they stay on topic.
Overall I thought the full package was really good, and your narration mixed really well with your soundbites, and allowed the story to be really clear. Like Professor Collins said, I think the NAT sound was a little confusing at first, but I picked up on what it was pretty easily, and I think it was just a minor issue, if even really an issue at all.
Really enjoyed it, and looking forward to your next project. See you next week!