Sturgeon City Institutes 2004
Coverage by the Media Institute.

Mayor Jan Bean Slagle

Mayor Jan Slagle
Talks to the Media Institute

Drawing on 25 years of television journalism experience, Jacksonville’s mayor Jan Bean Slagle expressed to Sturgeon City Media Institute teens about the importance of truth and integrity in the field.

Slagle described a situation she once covered during a hostage situation in a bank. Things got heated up, but the truth was reported the whole way through. A problem arose when one of the hostages got out and was accidently gunned down by the police. With great integrity, the station Slagle worked for did not show the gunning down of the hostage on television, but did report exactly what occured.

Mayor Slagle put great emphasis on the teens going out and finding the truth. She explained to them that finding the truth might mean hours of researching old newspaper articles, searching the web, or doing whatever it took to find the real truth of any story. To be able to research the truth, she greatly expressed the fact of putting aside personal beliefs. The mayor told the pupils that a biased opinion was the corruption of news.

On coming to the end of her visit, she challenged the group to demand more from the media as future creators and consumers of the news. Without the truth, news is not news; it’s the distraction of someone else’s opinion. back to the main page

Mayor Jan Bean Slagle