on journalism and other thoughts on life

Isn't that title exceedingly redundant? I usually write about journalism, or life. When was the last time I blogged about sports?

Anyway journalism quote of the day is:

"We believe journalism of verification rather than assertion," Jill Abramson, New York Times managing editor, 2006.

"Journalism of verification" is exactly what is wrong with newspapers today. You might as well call journalists stenographers. Yes, we're taught in journalism school to objectively report facts and data. Which is true. Be completely open when reporting. Don't make assumptions. Leave preconceived notions behind.

But, when that reporting is finished, you better have an assertion. You should understand your topic well enough that you can tell the readers, fairly, what this story is about. The days of putting forward the facts and "letting the readers decide" are almost over in my opinion. If you've spend days, weeks, hours researching a topic, you are in a position to make an assertion.

That is by no means a lisence to libel people, twist the facts to represent a biased unfounded idea or blatantly lie.

In an information-saturated world, journalism should make assertions. We should tell readers what is and is not true, and should not just verify facts and repeat the press releases. Journalism should help people understand their world. To do that, you have to make assertions.

In other thoughts ...

I have absolutely no idea what I will be doing 28 days from now, in the grander scheme of things.

I'm really struggling with that concept. Deeply disturbed by it.

For the past ... 22 years of my life I have always had a plan, some idea of what would be happening in the next month, three months, six months, year ... etc.

And I have no plan.

I know I need a job at some point. I know I want to be a journalist.

That's about it.

I've tried to apply my usual excel sheet remedy to this. I've made excel sheets with jobs to apply for, how to get a business degree in two years, how to get into Harvard.

Nothing helps.

I feel helpless in regards to what will happen in my life next.

Not completely helpless, because I am proactively searching and applying for jobs, contacting people who can help me and trying to figure it out.

But at this point I realized I have no control beyond that. I have no control over who has job openings, I have no control over who wants to hire me or where I end up. I can control my end by being proactive, the rest is up to the whims of the universe, fates, powers that be, what have you.

So ...

Dear Universe, Fates or Powers That Be,

I know we've had a interesting relationship over the past 22 years where I try to direct you to where I want to go and you tell me to chill out.

That's cool. In some ways I appreciate it. Your foibles have led me to paths unimagined. Take an accidental class when I was 15 that led me to journalism.

You snickered behind my back when I planned to marry my high school sweetheart. You chuckled and patted me on the head when I expected to go straight into an AP job out of college.

But those times when you've unexpectedly thrown me an opportunity when I thought I wasn't ready for it have been the best experiences of my life. Thank you for those. Thank you for pushing me into jobs and relationships I thought I couldn't handle.

I've decided to stop fighting you. I've decided to stop trying to force you into a path I would like. I'm embracing your whims and temperamental nature. All I can do is make myself available to a multitude of opportunities.

The rest is up to you.

So give me what you've got. Throw me the cliched curve ball. Break my heart. Befuddle me. Toss me into an unknown city or bring me back to the one I love best.

I can take it.

Love,
annie