BY KAREN BOSSICK

Some would say Lynn Walsh could not have been named president of The Society of Professional Journalists at a worse time.

A presidential candidate, who would go on to become president, was accusing journalists of creating fake news even as he mounted a tirade on the First Amendment.

A Montana Congressman body slammed a reporter when the reporter asked him about health care. A journalist was arrested for questioning U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, while another was pinned against the wall by a FCC representative for asking questions at a public meeting.

But Walsh, a multiple-Emmy Award winning reporter for the NBC affiliate in San Diego, says it’s a good time to be president of the nation’s largest journalism organization.

“I really want to protect freedom of the press and free speech--rights that are guaranteed under the First Amendment,” she said. “The First Amendment gives us the right to ask questions of elected officials without the threat of violence. Journalists should not be arrested or physically harmed for simply trying to do their jobs, as they’re the eyes and ears of the public.”

Walsh will likely discuss threats to First Amendment freedoms during the third annual Alturas Institute’s Conversations with Exceptional Women Thursday and Friday, Sept. 21-22, at Ketchum’s Community Library.

Fifteen other women will take part, including Astronaut and Teacher-in-Space Barbara Morgan, and Patricia Velasquez, a Venezuelan actress and supermodel who has created a charity to improve the conditions of Latin America’s indigenous populations

Tickets, which include a light breakfast and lunches with the speakers, are $100, with scholarships available. Students who pre-register at www.alturasinstitute.com may attend for free.

Walsh found her journalistic calling in high school when she began questioning why a pep rally was going to be cancelled. Her work helped lead to the rally being reinstated.

“It seems like such a silly example, but a pep rally is a big deal in the high school world. I decided then and there, I wanted to ask ‘Why?’ I wanted to hold politicians and government workers accountable,” she said. “Since, I’ve been lucky enough to work in investigative journalism where I’ve  been able to tell stories that have made a difference—like putting someone who stole money from children battling cancer in jail.”

Walsh said the rhetoric coming out of the White House from a man who’s arguably the most powerful person in the world concerns her.

“This is the first time we’ve seen lawmakers accusing news organizations of reporting fake news on such a grand scale. And we’re not just seeing it at the federal level but at the local level,” she said. “I recently heard from a North Carolina journalist who had published an article about the school district’s budget and the school superintendent accused her and her publication of lying. Yet, they couldn’t point to  anything that was incorrect.”

Journalists are frustrated because they’re constantly being called the enemy of the people and accused of writing untruths, said Walsh.

“We tell them to keep doing their job, that they can’t give up. You can’t let the person who is leading our country and what he is saying take away from the coverage that the public deserves.”

Walsh has tried to mitigate the rising animosity against journalists by addressing community meetings. It’s been eye opening, she said, to see the disconnect between what the public thinks journalists do and what journalists actually do.

“The public assumes, for instance, that when someone cites an anonymous source the journalist is just repeating a Twitter from someone they don’t know. But 99 percent of the time that is just not the case. Not only does the journalist know the source but their editor does, too. And they’re choosing not to share the person’s identity publicly because of the risk to the individual.

“They also think we publish things the moment we get information when, in reality, we have all these checks and balances we use to verify the information, particularly if it could harm the reputation of the subject.”

Walsh doesn’t think non-journalists reporting news on social media is necessarily a bad thing.

“I think it’s amazing that someone with a phone or an Internet connection can break a news story,  allowing us to see what’s going on in places where the news media can’t be. But the public needs to understand the difference between someone who shares his opinion on Twitter and someone who researches an article, talking to multiple sources.”

Walsh said today’s journalists are putting much more emphasis on digital, finding other ways to reach audiences than the 5 o’clock news. She herself is particularly excited about virtual reality storytelling with the 360-degree video cameras now available.

“CNN did a great 360-degree video during the eclipse. It gave you chills watching it because you could  watch the people who were cheering as the eclipse happened, then you could see the eclipse in the same moment so you get the same views they were looking at. These types of experiences make it a better experience for the user.”

Walsh, who teaches innovative storytelling at Point Loma Nazarene University, said she’d like to re-enact stories through virtual reality to help viewers experience what it was like when an individual was shot or what was going on during a hurricane.

“You’re not only seeing what’s happening but you’re experiencing it,” she said. “And I think that is really where the future of storytelling is, specifically when it comes to news, is going to go.”