Question

Imagine you are a reporter covering the Birmingham Campaign in 1963. What details would you include in your news

story? What information do you think is most critical for the public to have?
In 150-200 words, write a brief eye-witness report over what you see and why it is significant.

Answer 1

The correct answer to this open question is the following.

The details I would include in my news of the Birmingham Campaign in 1963 would be the following.

I would cover closely the decisions and actions of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) during the movement its members organized in the early months of 1963. I would follow closely the motives they had to organize their demonstrations against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama, one of the toughest places in the South for African Americans.

I think this would be the most critical information for the public to have because by understanding the motives of the protests, the American people could better understand what really was behind the civil rights leaders' minds.

I would go beyond the news and tried to interview the leader of the Civil Rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On the same topic, I would try to do the same with the major of Birmingham, so readers could have both sides of the story.