NPR reported that the U.S. Army issued a tweet ahead of Memorial Day weekend with a question for service members and veterans: "How has serving impacted you?" Soon, thousands of responses began flooding in.
Many people tweeted about the positive impact military service had on their lives, which is probably what the Army wanted to hear.
But others posted stories of post-traumatic stress disorder, illness, and suicide brought on by experiences ranging from seeing loss of life to sexual assaults in the military.
The Shop Talk panelists said journalists sometimes receive unexpected answers to the questions they pose. They said those unexpected answers can spark larger conversations and they hope that happens as a result of the Army’s tweet.
Shop Talk is a weekly panel discussion about journalism issues. This week’s program featured Will Buss, who teaches in the Department of Broadcasting and Journalism at Western Illinois University and advises the student editors at the Western Courier; Patrick Johnson, who teaches in the Department of Broadcasting and Journalism at WIU and advises Western’s student radio station WIUS/The Dog; and TSPR News Director Rich Egger.
