Megaphone for the voiceless

Steve Buttry died this week. You don't know him, but he was a long-time journalist, a teacher, and director of student media at Louisiana State University.

Ever the journalist, he wrote his own obituary and arranged to have it tweeted and posted on Facebook to announce his passing.

About a year ago Professor Buttry wrote a moving piece on journalists helping to amplify the voices of the voiceless. As you now, the SPJ Code of Ethics urges journalists to "give voice to the voiceless." Buttry believed in the concept, but believed the wording was arrogant. Using the example of civil rights in the 1960s, he noted that movement members had voices, but had it not been for the press and for television news, their voices might never have been heard.

The article he wrote, The voiceless have a voice. A journalist’s job is to amplify it, was published by Columbia Journalism Review. I ask you put aside your personal and religious beliefs momentarily, view this story as a professional journalist, and consider the important role you play in giving (or amplifying) marginalized voices.