Alabama reporter recounts his experience at symposium
A Troy Hall School of Journalism alumnus spoke to students Tuesday morning about how to handle difficult reporting situations.
Jacob Holmes, a reporter for the Alabama Political Reporter, has been recently facing backlash for covering a controversial library book ban regarding LGBT+ issues. Holmes exposed potential corruption and criminal activities. After multiple articles, a library director was fired for giving Holmes information.
Holmes has been called a “fake reporter” for his investigations into these circumstances.
In his presentation, Holmes highlighted the use of public records in investigative journalism.
“Be very aware of what the open meetings law is because government officials in Alabama are constantly trying to skirt those laws or outright break them, and they rely on just ignorance of it,” said Holmes. “It's really crucial to reporting.
“My Open Records Act request to the library board is what kind of sparked some of this and ended up in getting the director fired. The Open Records Act law, again, is liberally construed in favor of the media and the public.”
An open record is any written communication or document with government officials about government business.
“Your job as a reporter is to try and get information that's important to the public,” Holmes said. “If it's public record, you have a right, and every citizen has a right to that.
“Your job is to get that information for the public because you have a little bit of an elevated position as a journalist.”
HAL Hall was packed with students and faculty who showed up to support the alumnus and learn about his experiences.
“I think it was a cool experience to learn how Mr. Holmes took the backlash,” said Abby Ricks, a sophomore broadcast journalism major from Panama City Beach, Florida. “His point of view on how he has gone about accepting all the backlash , and how he is okay with that because he knows that he's telling the truth and that he has facts to back that up.
“I think that it’s important for us as students to understand how to handle the backlash that happens in lots of journalism and communication careers.”
Troy University faculty wants students to know that the conflict surrounding libraries and books will not affect Troy libraries.
“I was happy to be here and see a Troy graduate who's done such a fantastic job,” said Dean of Library Services Chris Shaffer,. “I think one of the things that both journalists and librarians do is, you know, we're interested in the truth.
“We're interested in freedom of information. In general, our students are over 18 years old, and there's a deep commitment to academic freedom at Troy.”
“The most important thing is to just find the truth and report the truth, regardless of what anyone says,” Holmes said. “If they call you a fake reporter, all you need to do is examine yourself.
“Make sure that you aren't being clouded by bias. Check your work, improve your work.”
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