Chaplain Favre preaches to the faithful

I can see there is going to be a lot of competition to get in the last word...I guess that's a good thing!

Mr. Favre described himself as an optimist, and referred to his session as "the benediction." I don't know about the rest of you, but I was certainly in need of a blessing this morning. It's also funny how he echoed Milt Coleman asking us for an "AMEN."

"Y'all be good now..." is one of Favre's southern expressions; but he continued, to say that most of us don't like to be told to be good - me especially. I really gotta get back to church.

Mr.Favre described himself as an optimist, and referred to his session as "the benediction." I don't know about the rest of you, but I was certainly in need of a blessing this morning.

"Y'all be good now..." is one of Favre's southern expressions; but he continued, to say that most of us don't like to be told to be good--me especially.

But these days, Favre says "I don't think it is a bad idea to be told to be good."

Favre comes from a time when journalists could be "the drummer," and when those drummers - earlier generations of reporters and editors - had a lesser challenge to capture attention and earn the trust of readers.

He also discussed the very real gulf between "those who have been marinated in technology" and those who never saw a computer until long after they graduated from college.

Favre echoed our other presenters in discussing the crisis in the news business. Having seen firsthand the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, Favre was not mincing words in his metaphor of journalists weathering a storm.

"A mighty surge of fear and mistrust washes through our newsrooms," is how he put it. He later responded to a question about educating our students by saying journalists must actively seek out a middle ground, not just cover the people "who are shouting at each other" over many modern, polarizing issues.

He also directly addressed the idea of plagiarism being such an easy and unfortunately common thing in the digital world, saying "aggregators are growing simply by publishing the work of others."

Favre furthered his benediction when he shared the analogy of planting a peach tree: the little boy says to his grandpa, 'you won't be around when it bears fruit' but the sage grandpa says,'I'm not doing it for me, I'm doing it for you.'

"You are today and will be tomorrow planting the seeds of the future," he said, referring to educating young journalists.

"Listen and respond to the dreams of your students," he advised. Favre also said we should "celebrate their successes, and assure them they can learn from their failures."

"Go home and remember that a [good] classroom is a place of imagination."

As an English teacher primarly, I could tell that (like myself) Favre was quite impassioned about what good writing can do. "Have I captured the small moments that illuminate the characters?" he asked, and referred to journalism as being a spotlight.

"Go home and teach your students to have respect for ideas that are not their own. There are not just two sides to any given story, there are many."

Favre said that even while we are "being herded into virtual communities" we must not abandon our geographic identities or fundamental understanding that all news is indeed local.

Expanding on the role of journalists, Favre said that people from different backgrounds coming together for a common purpose is the greatest thing journalism can produce. He referred to having seen Dr. King transform the national conversation, and that by comparison these times seem dark, in the quality of rancor that has seeped into even traditional news distribution channels.

Favre deplored "mean-spirited voices on the talk shows" and even meaner ones in online comments and blogs--and basically said that we all must protect journalism from pettiness and partisanship.

"Performing ethically is NOT an aberration," he said, and I'm fairly certain he was covering more than just objective journalism. As teachers, we are on the front lines of teaching that vital bit of wisdom (though occasionally the Cliche Police help out as well).

By the time he was done, I wanted to stand on my chair and say "Captain, my Captain!"