EDITOR'S NOTE: This column was originally published in April of 2013.
Today, as proof that I do occasionally think about serious things and not just how many zombies I could run down in my Jeep should the necessity arise, I'd like to offer some musings on what I do for a living. This little collection of thoughts is something I've been working on for a while, mainly because I love this job and at its core, it is a very thought-provoking thing to show up and do every day, and I wanted to share. Keep in mind that even though I use the term "we," I am not expressing anyone's views other than mine. Also keep in mind that I am a person who feels an inherent and burning need to give names to inanimate objects. It might help with your perspective.
Journalism is a vastly broad field. There is a huge difference between what a newspaper reporter does and what a TV news anchor does, and what a war correspondent photographer does, yet we would all call ourselves journalists. Within those divisions there are also differences based on the type of publication, etc...but though the issues may affect more people and be more hard hitting in a large city, what I do isn't that different from what their newspaper folks do. We are responsible for keeping track of what's going on the community, keeping people informed and up to date every day, while also serving as a watchdog who helps protect the rights of the public from abuse by those in power. I know that some people look down on this field, and I can't deny that we have some members who don't do our reputation justice, but in it's purest form (to which I try to adhere), it's a noble profession.
So, without further ado, I'd like to present my thoughts on a some popular misconceptions about what I and my fellow journalists do for a living. It's a complicated field, and everyone thinks they understand it, but to be honest I don't think you ever can grasp it fully. I sure haven't yet. It moves, it changes, basically it dances along to the rhythm of whatever is going on in the world that day.
And they go like this ...
Journalism is one of those fields in which you serve the interests of the public. Chiefly, the public's "right to know," which is something I believe in very strongly. But you have to be guarded and careful, because there are plenty of people out there who would use your voice and platform to advance their own agenda or brand of personal justice. This doesn't mean that you are wrong or they are wrong or anybody is wrong -- it's just ... sticky. But it's also a journalist's job to follow through and perform due diligence for each party involved in every story, whether they find the subject matter personally relevant, or distasteful, or just plain uninteresting.
Everybody has a job, and everybody should do their best at that job every day. And while some jobs involve an inherent amount of self expression, the work produced therein does not necessarily reflect the personal views of the one who generated it. In other words, there isn't always an "angle." We are just doing our best to present as much information as we can get our hands on every day, and do it in an objective manner.
Another thing I think about this profession is that people tend to project a lot of culturally conceived ideas about the field onto all of its members. They assume that all the stuff they see on TV and in the movies is real (in some ways, this is a lot like law enforcement and politics). I'm not saying that stuff doesn't exist, but I am saying that in my experience, it certainly hasn't played into my everyday life.
There isn't a lot of clandestine stuff going on -- our whole point of view is openness. We don't conceal information or pick and choose which parts of what stories to cover. We try our best to get a broad base of information from a broad base of people on a broad base of topics -- and our duty is to disseminate that information in an objective manner. We don't have personal agendas attached to our work, we don't "play favorites," and we put our own personal preferences and feelings aside (even when it's very hard to do so) and avoid taking sides in any issue. Sometimes I have even found myself resorting to more verbal aggression than I'm used to -- simply to enforce the point that I am not paid to give my opinion and I am not paid to have "off the record" conversations (another thing that does not exist in my world).
It's our job every day to be instant experts on everything from city code enforcement and anti-drug legislation to the current state of the county's cotton fields and area school districts' test scores. And about 3 million other topics in between. Everyone we know expects us to be walking encyclopedias. Just like a stockbroker juggles chunks of money and real estate (or whatever they buy and sell), we juggle information and resources. The only difference is that we are a source that others will refer to for research, and depend upon for accuracy. Every time one of us writes a story and puts it out there for the public to consume, we are putting our integrity as an intelligent person and a truth-teller on the line, and opening ourselves up wide for judgment and criticism from all parties involved.
So of course ... of course ... of course, we take it very, very seriously. We don't just slap out a few words on our keyboards and then giggle with each other about how we can say whatever we want. I mean, come on. This is the information age, folks. Anything that isn't the truth can be found out pretty quickly, and by any person with half a brain and access to a phone and the Internet. When your professional reputation is on the line every single day, based on how well you can quickly gather and redistribute a huge variety of information -- you tend to stay pretty sharp, you make sure you know your stuff, you pay attention. In addition to that, you try and make sure that you are maintaining a sense of openness, to ideas - but especially to people. Judgment calls have to be made on a daily basis (is this news or not, is this person lying to me or aren't they ... that kind of thing).
But just like in any job, all we can do is our best. It's a fascinating field, and though this is a small town, I have to say that our office can be a pretty interesting and crazy place. And I think a lot of people would be surprised to see how much stuff we filter through every day, and how many of our conversations center around making sure we are doing the right thing in the right way, and serving the bests interests of our profession's higher set of values. We are nice to people who yell and rant and curse, we listen to people who are angry and sad and confused, and sometimes they are in the right and sometimes they are in the wrong and sometimes it's just plain impossible to tell ... but we listen to them. We offer tissues and take notes, and try our best not to be judgmental, no matter what.
Our whole business centers around our ability to preserve accuracy and truth, which by the way, happen to be two of the most difficult ideals to obtain and uphold in our society. Period.
As I step off of my soapbox, let me add this. We are a business that centers around people. What people say, what people do, how people act. And any "people business" is highly subject to the differences in personalities and opinions possessed by each person involved in every situation. So sure, sometimes things come out differently than they started. And sometimes our work upsets people, and sometimes it elates them, and sometimes it bores them. It all depends on who you are and what interests you.
To every person, whatever affects them directly is Page 1 news, and it's a big deal. And we try our best to respect those sensibilities, but let me tell you ... it's a land mine out there. And I would like to add that when someone makes a comment to me, even in a joking fashion, that refers to a lack of integrity or honesty in my profession or at my actual office, yea ... it offends me, and I'm not even sorry I said that. And if we ever lose our reputation as a reliable newspaper, we will lose our readership and our advertising clients. So integrity is of the utmost importance, let me tell you. Our jobs actually depend on it.
So ... you don't have to like us and you don't have to like every thing that we write. In fact, we happen to especially love people that we know are checking to make sure that everything we write is true and accurate. We don't hate them, we feel like they have our backs. Because what we actually want to do is tell the truth. We are a bunch of people, human and fallible like everyone else, but we believe that honesty and communication are what keeps the world spinning smoothly, and we work on making that happen in our little corner every day.
And I, for one, love every single minute of it.
sharris@blythevillecourier.com