Recently, I've seen people online complaining about Odyssey as a source of journalism and questioning its journalistic integrity. This actually makes absolutely no sense to me, as someone who studies journalism and writes for Odyssey. There isn't really a direct connection between Odyssey and journalism in the first place, and I'm wondering how people are trying to make this connection. Odyssey as a company has no responsibility to be journalistic because it is made up of so many people with different backgrounds.
How can you question the journalistic integrity of a website that is not a source for journalism? Odyssey is not an exclusive source for news, and it hasn't branded itself as so. On their "About" page, Odyssey clearly describes themselves as a "social content platform," not a news source. It's more of a social media platform than a source of journalism. Yes, some content creators choose to write on trending current events, which, on our platform, is considered news. But, many creators choose to focus on topics that other students can directly relate to.
This is how Odyssey works. Anyone from the ages of 18-28 can apply to a community they feel they can relate to (some are categorized by colleges, others by geographic area). There is an interview process, and if the applicant is accepted to write, they are allowed to write about whatever they please. Applicants do not need to have any previous experience with journalism or even creative writing. The goal of Odyssey is not to be journalistic. Their main goal is to allow content creators to make their voice heard regarding a topic that matters to them.
Odyssey is not a news source, and I thought that it was obvious that Odyssey is not a reliable news source. The biggest reason for this is because of the number of content creators that Odyssey has. Currently, Odyssey has more than 10,000 individual content creators contributing articles each week, and most of them are college students. Many of these students are not journalism majors. I am the editor-in-chief of my community, and I can vouch for this. There are few creators in my community who are actually journalism majors.
I also thought this was obvious given the types of articles that tend to gain traction on the web. Typically, the articles that tend to gain traction are short lists, not long research pieces. Odyssey's most successful article is about why girls love the dad bod. That doesn't seem like a topic that would be considered "news" in the traditional sense of the word.
There is no limit to what an Odyssey content creator can choose to write about. Each of these people is different in their own ways, including the topics they choose to write on.
If there is breaking national news, Odyssey is definitely not the place where you are going to see it first. You might even see it last, depending on when the articles about the topic tend to be edited. I know on most Mondays (when the newest batch of articles usually goes online) most of the topics creators choose to talk about have already been discussed in the local and mainstream media.
You could probably argue this the other way, but In my opinion, only content creators who are studying journalism can be held to journalistic standards on this website. These are often the only creators educated to uphold these standards and care to write in such a way. Give Odyssey a break.
