I'm a journalist.* Please don't hate me.
Hi,
I’m a journalist.* Please don’t hate me.
*I’m also your friend, relative, former student, neighbor, local citizen and so much more. So when something affects the city I report in or the nation, it affects me, too. I’m not immune to it.
I pay taxes. I drive on your streets. I live among your people in your city.
Believe it or not, I didn’t choose journalism to be on TV. I chose it because I wanted to meet people and tell their stories—I recognized the importance of journalism to communities. I knew some days those stories would be good and some days those stories are heartbreaking.
To put that in perspective, I’m 21. I’m not a mother, but I talked to a mother who lost her son about her story. No, I’ve never walked in her shoes, but I’m a human being. So, it affected me.
Also, when bad news happens, viewers expect me to be there regardless of how dangerous it is.
In the four years I was in undergraduate journalism school, I don’t remember taking, “How to Spin a Story 101,” but I do remember taking, “Mass Communication Law,” and, “Mass Communication Ethics.” With these classes, I can more easily identify fake news. I’m taught to put my opinions aside, tell both sides of the story and remain objective. We all are.
With that being said, be a smart news ingester. Understand that some news outlets will have a more conservative or liberal leaning. Understand the difference between talk shows that discuss the news and those of us who report it. Your local news stations shouldn’t lean either way.
I’m a human being so yes, I have opinions and biases. No, you shouldn’t be able to tell what those are in my reporting.
When journalists say, “They tell us ______,” understand we aren’t saying it! We are attributing it to whoever said it.
“Definition of attribution
1: the act of attributing something
especially : the ascribing of a work (as of literature or art) to a particular author or artist”
For those of you who think the news is always negative—these days, yes it seems that way doesn’t it? Do I want to talk about COVID-19 every day? No. It consumes my personal and professional conversations. I don’t get an off switch like you do on your remote. I don’t even have the luxury of turning off social media because I’m expected to always know what’s happening.
Do I want to put myself and my family in danger by gathering stories every day? Honestly, no. I’m terrified of bringing this sickness back to my family from someone I interview. Journalists are on the frontlines every day. Now, I’m not saying we are as exposed as healthcare workers, but without the news, how would you know what’s going on?
Picture this—all the journalists in the U.S. decided not to come to work one day. You didn’t get a push notification about the increase of cases in your city. You didn’t learn that your city has a mask ordinance. You didn’t know that wearing a mask even helped. Where would you be?
Please understand the information on COVID-19 is changing every day. We report the facts. So yes, it makes us seem less credible when those facts and information are updated every day. Again, we are your neighbors in this with you, learning alongside you.
I wish I could report on more optimistic news. I do. Maybe one day, I will, like Steve Hartman. Understand that most local news stations are barely getting by. We are losing money in this pandemic right now, too. We don’t have enough reporters and photographers to go out and get all that is happening and the cute, fluffy story. If we didn’t bring you what’s happening we would have viewers upset. “Why didn’t you report on this or that?”
The point of the news is to inform you. So before you go on about “the media,” remember it’s purpose. To inform you. Not to entertain you.
The point of the news is to look into what’s going on and ask questions—holding government and institutions accountable.
Oh and P.S. trust the news more than your Facebook friends. We are the ones talking directly to the reliable sources (doctors, cops, lawyers, community members, etc.) every day.
And with that. I love my job. It’s hard. Most journalists are underpaid, but I couldn’t see myself doing anything else. I know there are better, easier days ahead.
We are with and for you.
This Letter Contains Love (like my love of the truth and my love for my community),
Lily Rain