I was told by everyone who ever knew me: I should have been a journalist

[Snoggera]

I love to write, but am so glad I didn't go that direction.

There is a distinct possibility that I would have been corrupted, and there is nothing worse than being a "journalist" today.

Being a journalist, a writer of current events, is not what it used to be. A journalist now is a propagator of misinformation. Either that, or you are fired.

Are there any real journalists left in the "mass" media?

I don't watch tv, so have no idea.

[quaoar]

1. I'm a journalist

Have been for more than 24 years.

And I'm damn proud of it, too.

[Snoggera]

3. i am proud to hear that

thanks

[greatauntoftriplets]

5. I also have been a journalist and damned proud of it.

33 years and counting...

[the Kelly Gang]

2. there are journalists and there are whores..

[Snoggera]

6. Where are the journalists?

I read the internet news, and that is it.

Who are the real journalists nationally?

[Maple]

4. It's infotainment

Investigative journalism, or just plain old reporting, is for the most part, dead.

[quaoar]

7. No it isn't

Where would you get an idea like that?
I've raked my share of muck over the years. I have written stories that have gotten people indicted, stories that have forced corrupt officials to resign. I write stories that changed state laws.

And I am hardly the only journalist who has ever done that.

Journalism is a noble calling and a thankless job. No one is ever satisfied. Everyone is convinced the local newspaper is biased this way or that. Sometimes it's true, but most of the time your local newspaper is the only thing standing between you and the thieves running your local government.

[Snoggera]

9. You are what journalists are supposed to be

and we thank you!

[stellanoir]

8. when I was in my early 20's

an older woman for whom I had tremendous respect, was involved in my then off beat trade.

She announced one day that she was taking real estate courses. It was back when the seaside resort in which we lived was being whored to the max and "condo-ized. " I was really surprised and said, "but you're so ethical." I'll never forget her response. She said. "It's all too easy to illustrate malfeasance in any profession because the perpetrators are the one's who get all of the attention. It's far harder to work quietly and set a good example, for little acclaim yet inspiring others through osmosis."

There are still plenty of amazing journalists out there. You just have to work harder to find them.

Keep writing.

[quaoar]

10. Don't think like that

There is a distinct possibility that I would have been corrupted, and there is nothing worse than being a "journalist" today.

Why would you think that? That is just so sad.

You cannot be corrupted unless you allow yourself to be corrupted. Sure there are whores in journalism today. There are whores in every profession.

But journalism is the bulwark of democracy. Remember what Thomas Jefferson said about choosing between government and his morning paper.

If journalism is ailing, then it needs people who cannot be corrupted. Journalism always needs men and woimen of courage who will stand up and point out that the emperor has no clothes -- even when everyone in town insists that he does. If you cannot do that, then you don't belong in journalism.

But if you can tell the truth no matter what the consequences, then there will always be a place of honor for you in our profession.

[quaoar]

11. Ok, I don't mean to rant

But now I'm on a roll. LOL

I once wrote a story about a sheriff in rural Mississippi who had been arrested on counterfeiting and bootlegging charges. His replacement abruptly quit because he had received telephone threats from a "pervasive criminal element" in town. I wrote about that.

The abuse was heaped upon me. I was accused of destroying whatever opportunities for economic development this county might have had.

But I told the truth. And in the end, that is all that matters.

If you feel a call to stand up and tell the truth, then I urge you to reconsider your decision not to be a journalist.