What is it about reporting?
This summer I was about to get a ticket for running a stop sign until the cop recognized me as being a reporter and let me go. That’s probably the best part about journalism. Just kidding.I can’t begin to say what I love about reporting. I love the job itself, I love the idea of journalism, I love considering myself a member of the media. Each individual angle of it is special. For instance,in the day to day of reporting, I can get myself excited about and interested in three or four different topics, and i always go home learning something new. One top of that, I get paid (or hopefully will get paid someday) for talking with people all day. Then there is the idealistic part of journalism: the idea that I could change the world with a story. I could have an effect on policy or school board decisions. Even on a smaller scale, doing a story on a 6-year old and her dog is important, because it makes that individual feel special for a day or two.I love it. I love it.That’s all I can say. From copy editing to deigning to photographing to writing, I love it all, and I want to be good at all of it.That’s not to say that it doesn’t come without a price. When I tell people I want to be a reporter, they ask me why I couldn’t find an honest job. People assume all reporters are part of this evil secret society called ‘the media.’ They assume that I am dishonest or without morals, when the opposite is true.Unfortunately, it is easy enough for people to call me dishonest. If I print something that someone is embarrassed about saying, all they have to do it lie, and say I made it up. It is too easy to get you character questioned in this business, and for me, that is the worst part.
January 16, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Molly,
You make me enthusiastic about being a journalist all over again. those are the great things about being a reporter, being a journalist. I, too, think it’s too bad that every reporter seems tainted with a “bad media” brush. Much as anything that is worth doing, you have to develop a thick skin and do your best every day.
January 16, 2008 at 6:51 pm
It’s an interesting concept: people’s relationship with the media. On one hand, the media provide viewers and readers with information and entertainment. Especially in today’s world, could they go a day without being connected with the outside world. On the other hand, the media are characterized as opportunistic and self-fulfilling. People believe reporters just want “the story” and don’t care about others. Don’t let this stop you from fighting.
Keep on trucking.