Why be a Journalist?

I am on my way to be a journalist….

what does that statement really mean?

Does it mean i want to earn a fat salary because media is the next big thing or do i want to change the order of things or do i want to just say what i feel and present an opinion?

Today as i sit at my desk pondering the question over and over in my mind, a frightening question shakes the very foundation of my dream.

I say i want to be a Journalist because I want to represent the voice of people who are ignored or not given their rights, which means I want to change the order of things.

Even as I say it do I believe it?

At the end of the day its my opinion about what those people really feel, why are they oppressed or deprived of their rights or why are they ignorant.

In a space of 300cm and with 250 to 300 words i am asked to tell a story of more then a 1000 people, who are suffering with three quotes which represent what all want to say.

At the end when i speak to three people out of 1000 what guarantees do I have that everyone feels the same, I chose to ask these people so its my discretion.

 The product is manufactured by me set in specifications of word count and layout churned out to an audience who hears what I choose to say.

Lets take the second instance, I want to be a journalist beacuse I want to state what i feel and shape the opinions of millions who read what i write and hang on to each word.

Doesn’t the situation sound like “Opinion of few is the will of all” the same thing as in the first instance, it boils down to I choose a person to give his opinion, and select from them words that tell the story I am writing.

The third thing is being honest. I want to be a Journalist because there is money in the profession you are paid to praise some, uplift the few effluent people.

You eat good food, drink the best wine, talk good about the host, clutch a goody bag and leave feeling happy.

The next day you go in type out good things and make up stories that then paint glorious pictures about the person or his organisation.

As a Journalist in today’s world I am unsure about the values and objectivity that goes along with this profession.

The commercialised media is a mouthpiece of the rich who can throw around money and buy power to influence popular opinions.

So where do the honest people, who want to practice unadulterated journalism (If such thing still exists) stand in this commercial marketplace?

~ by journospeaks on February 5, 2007.