I've always loved writing. I think it stems from a love of reading, which my mom gave me. She always read to us and so even before I could read or write, I would read and write in the same way my babies do now and it melts my heart.
Growing up I always wrote books and dreamed of being a famous author but I found I had a really hard time ending my stories. I liked telling the story but I hated ending it.
When I discovered newspaper in high school it seemed like a perfect fit. It gave me a chance to write and to tell a story but I didn't have to come up with the ending--I could just enjoy it.
As I entered the real world and got a job working for a newspaper my love for the career only grew. On top of getting the chance to write and learn and constantly share what I was learning with others I had a flexible schedule and perks of being the first to know when different events were going on. I met the most interesting people and got to hear from them stories that were so wonderful and sometimes heartbreaking. I met people who had passion for things I took for granted. I met people who were really doing things to change the world.
I chose to write for a community newspaper. I've never had a goal of working for a national newspaper or TV station. That's not what I'm passionate about. I don't care to expose great injustices, though I'm all for that when it happens. My passion is in telling a story and getting to know the people that make a community and are changing lives all around them in very simple ways.
So recently I feel like I've been bombarded with people demanding a new definition to the term journalism. Is journalism only worthwhile if it's exposing something terrible? Is only bad news, news? Is there no value in hearing about the good things your neighbor is up to or the new organization across the street that's doing something helpful for seniors?
I had a man approach me the other day at a meeting. I was there a few minutes early and people were standing around waiting for it to get started. I'd never met this man before but he approached me and we introduced ourselves. He asked me "Do they train you to ask the deep questions?"--it was asked with a sense of sarcasm like I've probably never asked a tough question in my life.
Again, I'd never met this man. He's never read my work. He's never even heard of the paper I write for. He was asking a question fueled by bias against the media. I have no idea how that bias was built up.
I answered, half sarcastically, that I felt my paper's strength was not in asking the tough questions but in sharing the good that's going on in the community. I do believe this. The bigger newspaper can ask the tough questions, the ones that affect everyone, and I expect them to do that and value them for doing that, but they don't compete with what I do. I talk to the girl scouts, the small business owners, the local pastor. I get to know the community.
His response was "Well, so you're not really a journalist then, are you?"
"More of a writer I guess," I said, and walked away to find a seat for the meeting--a meeting I was attending specifically to ask some tough questions.
Is community journalism not journalism? Is there no value in the good news?
When issues come up in the community I cover, you bet I ask the tough questions, but I wouldn't be able to ask those tough questions if I didn't know who I was asking them for. I've always believed in the paper I write for because I believe in the community that reads it.
I get asked all the time "What's next?" when it comes to my career. People want to know what I want to do after this job. I think they assume that newspapers are dying and my current job is losing value. That may be true. Would you ask that of a firefighter, a nurse or a lawyer? This job, to me, isn't a stepping stone. It's a career. It's a passion. I care about community journalism. I wish more people did.
I fear that in the future we'll all get our community news from social media, where people hide behind their computers and share gossip with no credibility. All the good stories will be buried beneath only the "tough questions" being shared by the "real" journalists.
I guess I'm not a journalist. That's okay. Maybe soon no one will be.
Growing up I always wrote books and dreamed of being a famous author but I found I had a really hard time ending my stories. I liked telling the story but I hated ending it.
When I discovered newspaper in high school it seemed like a perfect fit. It gave me a chance to write and to tell a story but I didn't have to come up with the ending--I could just enjoy it.
As I entered the real world and got a job working for a newspaper my love for the career only grew. On top of getting the chance to write and learn and constantly share what I was learning with others I had a flexible schedule and perks of being the first to know when different events were going on. I met the most interesting people and got to hear from them stories that were so wonderful and sometimes heartbreaking. I met people who had passion for things I took for granted. I met people who were really doing things to change the world.
I chose to write for a community newspaper. I've never had a goal of working for a national newspaper or TV station. That's not what I'm passionate about. I don't care to expose great injustices, though I'm all for that when it happens. My passion is in telling a story and getting to know the people that make a community and are changing lives all around them in very simple ways.
So recently I feel like I've been bombarded with people demanding a new definition to the term journalism. Is journalism only worthwhile if it's exposing something terrible? Is only bad news, news? Is there no value in hearing about the good things your neighbor is up to or the new organization across the street that's doing something helpful for seniors?
I had a man approach me the other day at a meeting. I was there a few minutes early and people were standing around waiting for it to get started. I'd never met this man before but he approached me and we introduced ourselves. He asked me "Do they train you to ask the deep questions?"--it was asked with a sense of sarcasm like I've probably never asked a tough question in my life.
Again, I'd never met this man. He's never read my work. He's never even heard of the paper I write for. He was asking a question fueled by bias against the media. I have no idea how that bias was built up.
I answered, half sarcastically, that I felt my paper's strength was not in asking the tough questions but in sharing the good that's going on in the community. I do believe this. The bigger newspaper can ask the tough questions, the ones that affect everyone, and I expect them to do that and value them for doing that, but they don't compete with what I do. I talk to the girl scouts, the small business owners, the local pastor. I get to know the community.
His response was "Well, so you're not really a journalist then, are you?"
"More of a writer I guess," I said, and walked away to find a seat for the meeting--a meeting I was attending specifically to ask some tough questions.
Is community journalism not journalism? Is there no value in the good news?
When issues come up in the community I cover, you bet I ask the tough questions, but I wouldn't be able to ask those tough questions if I didn't know who I was asking them for. I've always believed in the paper I write for because I believe in the community that reads it.
I get asked all the time "What's next?" when it comes to my career. People want to know what I want to do after this job. I think they assume that newspapers are dying and my current job is losing value. That may be true. Would you ask that of a firefighter, a nurse or a lawyer? This job, to me, isn't a stepping stone. It's a career. It's a passion. I care about community journalism. I wish more people did.
I fear that in the future we'll all get our community news from social media, where people hide behind their computers and share gossip with no credibility. All the good stories will be buried beneath only the "tough questions" being shared by the "real" journalists.
I guess I'm not a journalist. That's okay. Maybe soon no one will be.
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