Why I Want to be a Journalist

To paraphrase Bill Moyers, journalists, “speak into the wind and write in the sand.” Indeed, journalism is not a career path which should be pursued by anyone lusting after notoriety or fortune. I do not wish to enter this field based on some delusion of grandeur; I do not see myself as some glamorized reporter as depicted on celluloid. Instead, I wish to enter journalism out of a desire to serve my nation.
Our Founders realized that a democracy could thrive only if its citizenry was an informed one. I wonder what they would think of the state of modern media, with its obsession with celebrity and focus on “soft news.” In his famous speech at the 1958 RTNDA Convention, Edward R. Murrow accused the media, and television in particular, of being the home of “decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live.” His criticism rings true today, as the quarrel of pundits and endless chatter about starlets has come to replace the somber tone of investigative reporting on many “news” programs. Many citizens, both public and private, are weary of what media critic Eric Alterman has called the “punditocracy.” These people increasingly yearn for more responsible journalism, and they deserve to receive it.
More than one person has feared that American journalism -at least as it was once understood, as a tool by which the public could continue to successfully self-govern- is dead. Indeed, the situation does look dire. The sad fact is that a majority of the people who will one day be America’s voting public cannot even name the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment. I sincerely believe that if America is to continue to succeed, we need an educated populous. Knowing the facts is the only way to consider oneself a good citizen. Our society depends on a resurgence of responsible journalists, or we run the risk of being a nation of dolts. I wish to become a journalist so that I may do my best to combat what Cleanth Brooks identified as the “bastard muses.” I wish to be able to help my fellow citizens make informed decisions.