West Virginia University Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism sophomore David Ryan’s editorial in The Daily Athenaeum received mention on BBC’s “World Update” Monday (March 19).
Ryan, from Duck, W.Va., wrote the editorial, “Four years of war has been more than enough,” in response to the fourth anniversary of the Iraq war, but never expected it to get international attention.
“I have tremendous respect for the BBC and the organization that it is, and it was surreal to hear my words on it,” he said.
Ryan, who has been working at the student newspaper as a columnist since October 2006, said he decided to write the column because he hadn’t heard too many young voices writing about the fourth anniversary of the Iraq war.
Although it is an opinion piece, he says that his editorial doesn’t take sides. Instead, he says he expresses his frustration with both Democratic and Republican leaders and their inability to come to any plausible solutions.
“Now it’s become more than this talking point, it’s become a war, and neither side is doing anything constructive about it,” he said. “They are arguing back and forth, and they aren’t meeting on any common ground.”
After graduation, Ryan hopes to pursue a career with the BBC World Service. Having lived in both England and Australia, he says he feels that European media are more focused on the news than American news.
“The news channels here seem to lack a world news perspective,” he said. “Over there, it seems to be more news than filler and vague entertainment.”
Read the column online at http://www.da.wvu.edu.