Home > Inside the Newsroom > Archives > 2007 > January > 12 > Entry
We are Marshall, too
On Nov. 11, 2006, Marshall University made a trip to Greenville to face East Carolina in a football game. The significance? Well, unless you have been out of the country for the past eight or nine months, you have heard of the movie, “We Are Marshall.”
It was Nov. 14, 1970, when the Thundering Herd football team left the airport after a hard-fought 17-14 loss to the Pirates. The chartered flight never reached its destination, as it crashed outside the Tri-State Airport in Ceredo, W.V., killing all 75 people on board.
East Carolina commemorated this event by unveiling of a plaque at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium honoring the 1970 team during Marshall’s visit to ECU last year. Many hours were spent in the newsroom prior to this game to report on the events leading up to the presentation and the game, with a great deal of cooperation between features, sports and the news departments. We believe we did a solid job of helping people see the important link between these two universities.
Recently, I had the opportunity to see the movie, “We Are Marshall.” I was moved throughout the film by the pain and suffering the people of Marshall and Huntington, W.V., endured following the deaths of their sons, husbands, fathers and family members. I was touched by the assistance given to the rebuilding Marshall program by then West Virginia University head coach Bobby Bowden.
Many times bringing you the news means we, as journalists, have to make calculated decisions about what is important and what isn’t. The object is to be unbiased and professional in our judgement. This means, at times, we need to separate ourselves from the human emotions that can surround a story.
It is good to be reminded that the stories in the paper each day involve real people with real emotions. Our coverage of Marshall’s trip to Greenville in November was well done and insightful. It also reminded many of you, and us, that it was a time to reflect on the great loss many families suffered. The movie brought that home for me. Covering the news is a job, but it is a job that impacts real people. And that is a lesson we will never forget.
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