Armadillo leather, lies and pain

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For reasons I don't full understand and probably never will, a writer's group in S. Carolina has asked me to come speak to them. They're gonna foot my gas bill and I'll be bunking at a buddy's house.

Aside - The real argument there is who has to put up with me that night. For some reason, there is a serious stack of people around the Lakes region in S. Carolina who feel it would be an honor for me to spend the night in their house.

But this group has asked me to come speak (and they will read this column as well). Among the topics - how to break into newspapers.

A crowbar works pretty well.

Ar har har.

Since I don't wanna give away what they are paying me to do, I am not gonna spill any secrets here. I am, instead, gonna tell you something related.

I have personally driven two people out of journalism. I mean made 'em hang up their hat and slam the door on the way out, muttering imprecations about me the whole time. I rather suspect these two people also had a deep-seated hatred of me for what I did.

But given the same situation, I'd do it again. Absolutely no question.

Journalism is not a career for the timid. It is not, despite appearances to the contrary, a career for the stupid either.

I do not mean to say you must be incredibly overbearing, arrogant and have an IQ like that of Einstien.

But you can't be a mouse either. I know person who invested 4 years of life and a serious amount of money in getting a journalism degree. Person graduated. Got a job on a nearby newspaper.

Lasted six months.

The person had the force of personality of a nearly drowned mouse.

Simply put, the person could not handle the aggressiveness necessary to be a reporter.

Journalism is not sitting at a computer, watching and editing videos and news stories to present your point of view. Journalism is going out there and getting the story yourself.


Derivative writing ain't journalism, no matter what some other people may believe.Journalism is NOT writing a blog, NOT commenting on the news in any forum.

Journalism is:

Getting out of bed at 4 a.m. because the police are staging a series of arrests and you are going along to take pictures and get a first hand account.

Interrupting a peaceful Saturday because a train has wrecked and you have to get pictures (which happened this weekend.)

Sifting through a stack of records 2 feet high to find one page with useful information.

Cornering a politician and refusing to let him weasel out of a question.

Letting a politician avoid answering the hard questions so you can maintain your access.

(Yeah. You don't HAVE to believe those two items, but if you don't then you don't understand the nature of journalism.)

Having sources you can trust.

Being someone other people trust, whether they will publicly admit it or not.

Realizing that your opinion is not news.

Telling the story, as completely and accurately as you can, no matter what.

Realizing that you might never get to tell the whole and complete story and you have got to go with what you have.

Having armadillo leather for skin because people are going to attack you mercilessly.

Making judgment calls of what information is important, what's not and who is important to the story and who is not.

Being fair which means others accuse you of being unfair.

Being lied to, lied on and lied about regularly.

Having an ethical standard that sometimes appears to be unethical to outsiders.

Trying to fit ALL the above into the space you have.

It ain't easy.

But compared to other aspects of journalism, all that is easy.

At a conference I was on a panel with a reporter. The reporter was objecting to covering a story that conflicted with her personal beliefs. This was the PYT's first journalism job outta collage.

I was asked my editor's opinion. I didn't hesitate.

"I don't care. You get the story or you get another job."

Harsh? Yep. But real journalism is a harsh world. We have to do things we personally find distasteful.

Even worse is having to write the stories which personally hurt. I've had to do this over the years. I did not like it then and I will not like it in the future.

But I have a higher obligation.

No matter how much it may personally hurt.