Journalists who are feeling powerless: Check in here

[Newsjock]

I'm not really sure what to put here, or even how much I can put here without jeopardizing people's jobs.

For the past few weeks, I've been getting very little sleep, frustrated over the collapse of my once-noble profession -- and over my current inability. My inability to do meaningful journalism. My inability to prevent the next chapter in George Bush's madness, whatever that may be. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, and that's why I'm posting here tonight -- to commiserate, if not find some actual support from other journalists who are going through what I am.

I used to work on the hard-news side of the business. I did everything I could to highlight factual reporting in advance of our invasion of Iraq. Walter Pincus' reports that were buried on Page A17 of the Post ... I got them out front when I could. Skeptical reports about Colin Powell's claims ... we ran 'em. Of course, we were just one paper in a small market, and the invasion happened anyway. A year later, exhausted and spent and lacking support from senior management, I left hard news and got a new job, hiding out at a different newspaper, away from the daily crush of hard news.

Which, of course, makes me even less able to influence actual journalism. And for a while, I didn't mind that. I watched with some mild pleasure/resignation as the majority of Americans finally came around to seeing though this administration's lies, and how newspapers finally came around to pursuing the truth more often. (John Solomon aside, of course.) I kept my little corner of the newspaper clean through the 2006 campaign season, trusting that things would run their proper course. And they did.

But now, things seem different. This country is on a collision course with something. Perhaps an attack on Iran, perhaps even nuclear. Perhaps a constitutional crisis that will pit citizen against citizen. Perhaps a revelation about our government so horrifying that the very fabric of our society will be shaken to its core. I don't know, and I'm not making any predictions here or claiming any inside knowledge. But I'm scared out of my gourd over what's ahead -- more scared than I ever was back in the days of the Evil Empire and "The Day After."

The bottom line for me, however, is that I feel as if there's nothing I can do about any of this. Indeed, I now am of the opinion that the type of journalism I'm doing -- centered on the trivialities of humanity, the mindless entertainment, the celebrity gossip -- is actually, to paraphrase Jon Stewart, hurting America. And this is sending my conscience into somersaults, turning me inside-out and upside-down, and generally turning me into a walking basket case.

There are many reasons -- mostly financial -- why I can't simply get up, leave, and go work for some anti-Bush group. And even if I could, I don't think doing so would make any significant difference. Moreover, if something really bad is coming down the pike, do I really want to be the newcomer at any job, where I'd be the first to be tossed to the street when the economy tanks? Here, I've got a salary that pays the bills, health insurance that doesn't totally suck, and some modicum of job security.

So I'm conflicted. And I suspect I'm not the only journalist in this situation. That's why I'm posting here. I'm looking for a discussion on how we cope with what's happening to the world we're supposed to be covering. How do we fight the demands for irrational "balance" at the expense of truth? How do we resolve our own internal conflicts about not upholding the values of our profession, all for the sake of a steady paycheck in a world where such things are no longer certain? And what, if anything, can we actually do without running afoul of corporate policies?

My apologies for throwing out a lot of thoughts that aren't fully formed. But that's where my mind is now.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

1. K&R

No need for apologies. I'm sure there are many that find themselves in your shoes.

I was chatting with another DU'er a couple weeks back, that had gone through much of the same turmoil, in a couple of eastern papers. I can't remember her name, though.

The whole idea of afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted, has certainly been thrown out the window by the corporate masters . . .

[salin]

2. not a journalist, but kicking for others

I can only imagine how 'rock and hard place' it must feel. Interesting that it got *worse* after the 2006 elections. Best wishes to you and other journalists stuck in hard-places. Frightening for the public - free press?!?! :-(

[Bobbieo]

4. I long for the days of the family owned news papers.

They were the cornerstone of the community and prided themselves on their integrity - then the corporations took over and - you know what happened.

[salin]

5. I have been pleased to see

that the one 'chain' that was somewhat independent (Knight Ridder) when bought out (McClatchy) seems to have continued the tradition. This 'chain' seems to be the exception.

I, too, miss the 'family owned newspapers' - but those too were sometimes terribly biased. When I grew up a relatively small town (now a midsized city) was able to support two local papers. Now even most large markets that once supported two papers have seen those merged - so only one voice for the major paper. :-(

[Berry Cool]

3. I don't know if this helps

but I am always willing to suggest wise words from someone I admire (see avatar):

"You can’t in this world today I think behave morally correctly at all times. It’s just -- you couldn’t get across the street if you didn’t, you know, push in front of somebody else to get into the crosswalk.

"But on occasion you need to stand up and say, I’m not going to feel right about this if I do it, and I’m not going to feel right about it for the rest of my life. And it’s violating my principles and I want to say something and I want to do something now. And it’s going to put me at personal risk.

"...if...you don’t like what you see in the world, the first thing you do, go look in the mirror. What are you doing that is contributing to the thing that you don’t like in the world, and then do what you can to correct it. Not quit your job today, not go to Brazil and work with underprivileged kids necessarily, but what -- can you send $25? Can you try to change the job slightly? Can you move on to another job in a year’s time? Can you do something to correct what you perceive as a moral error? You are exerting moral force.

"...moral force and money often do not mix in the slightest. They are often separate beams of light traveling through the universe, and you may have to jump off one to ride the other for a while." --Keith Olbermann

The thing I like about these words?

1. They accept the fact that we are all human and imperfect and selfish at times--sometimes because we have to be.

2. They acknowledge that we have to be the change we wish to see.

3. They also acknowledge that while we have to be that change eventually, we may not be able to do it all at once, or right away, for very practical reasons. But we don't have to let go of the plan to be that change. We just have to find a way to do it that won't make the rest of our life fall apart.

The important thing?? Don't give up, don't get disillusioned. Don't lose sight of your moral force just because you can't follow all of its dictates now. Think of small ways in which you can follow some. Then plan to follow others later.

Then you will feel as if you CAN do something about it.

Want more details concerning these quotes? See http://www.q-and-a.org/Transcript/?ProgramID=1067.

And read KO's 1998 commencement address at Cornell: http://www.news.cornell.edu/campus/Olbermann_speech.html

It's the words of a journalist who at the very time he wrote the speech was doing a form of journalism that made him ill, he so detested it. Yet he survived, figured out how to get out of the situation intact, and today is working for that employer again, doing the news the way HE wants. Maybe you will find it inspirational.

[Tatiana]

6. This really moved me. I think many of us too are watching events in horror and feeling helpless.

I think the two things we absolutely MUST do if we want to save our tattered democracy are forcing our Congress to truly represent us and working to form a truly free press as described in our Constitution.

The fact is that the many in Congress are there, not out of a desire to serve the public and the public interest, but instead to get wealthy, protect corporate interests and wield power. We have to do a better job of organizing and showing up at the polls. We need to make WISE voting decisions. We need to reach a point where we are able to vote for a presidential candidate that represents a cross-section of the values and beliefs of America's citizens; not the lesser of several evils.

As far as the press is concerned, we really need to make it a priority to fund a truly public media entity. It is sad when I trust the BBC for news over NPR or PBS. But that's the truth. Because I know NPR, PBS, NBC, CBS, Fox, NYT, WaPo and all of their affliates lied to me and the rest of this nation regarding many issues of national importance. Most of the time, it was the independent media that got Iraq right. The only thing that will force corporate media to truly report critically, fairly and honestly is to hit them where it hurts-- financially. That means having alternative print/broadcast news sources and that also means removing the financial incentive corporate media has to lie to us for refuse to cover issues with journalistic integrity.

[Cabcere]

7. I am not a journalist, but...

I think I understand where you're coming from. In fact, I've been feeling very much the same way lately. I'm a 21-year-old anthropology major, and over winter break I did some serious self-questioning and soul-searching, because it feels like I'm not doing enough, especially in the corrupt climate of today's world. At times it overwhelms me, the sheer enormity of the enemy we face. People are dying in Iraq, in Darfur, in our very own New Orleans still, and sometimes I just feel totally helpless and powerless to do anything to stop it. The earth is heating up, our foreign relations are shot all to hell, and my America - and the freedom I always thought defined it - is being undermined, if not downright destroyed by the Bush administration. Lying, corruption, thievery, torture, murder, and a shift towards totalitarianism - when you stop to think about all this, or especially if it's always in the back of your mind like it seems to be with me, it threatens to crush you under the horrible weight of it all and destroy you.

I want to make a difference. I want my life to have meaning. And I think I can say, with a good deal of certainty, that we all feel that way. I think we all go about it differently, but in the end it usually works out for us to affect the world in our own little way. (At least, I hope so. I keep telling myself that, anyway... :)) I haven't found myself yet, but it sounds like you have, and that you're doing what you can to make things better. I've always believed that journalists have a special advantage in that department (although I'm sure I'm romanticizing it quite a bit), and some part of me still thinks "muckraker" (in the Ida Tarbell sense, not in the literal sense) would be an ideal job. Make a living exposing corruption? Bring the truth to people, and get paid for it? Yes, please! (Realistically, I know it's nowhere near that simple, and certainly not glamourous - my mother was a journalist, and she debunked some of my more romantic notions of journalism fairly effectively. ;) But the basic principle of getting to the bottom of some of the nastier aspects of society, and making that information available to the public, still appeals to me.)

I don't have the answers. As mentioned earlier, I'm a college student, and I don't even know where I want to go with my life when I graduate next year - much less how I intend to change the world! :shrug: But that doesn't mean I'm going to give up, and I hope you don't either. :) You are not alone in feeling the way you do. As long as humans still have values and morals and the strength to adhere to them, you will never be alone in questioning the "rightness" of a situation and searching for ways to make it better. I think the words of wisdom from KO that BerryBush posted earlier really nail it - the Cornell commencement address, in particular, really hit it home for me, especially the part about listening to your moral compass. My words are clumsy, awkward, and probably nowhere near what you were looking for, but I do get where you're coming from. :) Stay strong, my friend - you have my best wishes, and I honestly believe that as long as good people do their best, we can turn this situation around. Peace.

[kentuck]

8. Follow Olberman's example....

Just keep telling the truth. The truth will win out.

[Newsjock]

9. Thanks to all

... for your supportive comments. I was pleased to be reminded of Olbermann's journey, and yes, of his tales of being sick over the faux journalism he was doing in the Lewinsky era.

I hope that, 10 years from now, we can look back on all this and share our stories of what we did to rescue this nation from the clutch of tyranny. Alas, in the mood I'm in this week, I'm skeptical at best. Any further exploration of that would quickly send this discussion into a very dark, scary place, and it's too late at night for that.

But I'll revisit this in the morning to see what develops overnight. Thanks again.

[RagingInMiami]

10. I ended up quitting my corporate newspaper job in Nov 2003

where I was working as a journalist. It was run by Gannett, the worst of the media moguls. The paper I wrote for, The Arizona Republic, endorsed Bush twice.

Since then I've been freelancing, but it's been tough. However, I am now allowed to show my true colors when it comes to politics, something I was not allowed to do when I worked for the corporate media.

I have no regrets, but I wish I had a steady paycheck and health insurance.

[Hekate]

11. Kicking in case any more of our DU journalists are up late

Hang in there. So many of us (and I count myself among them) have been through deep depression over our helplessness to change the course of events.

But it does neither the cause nor yourself any good to burn yourself out, so you have to take care of yourself. This isn't being selfish, this is just necessary self-preservation.

Jon Kabat-Zinn (author of "Wherever You Go, There You Are") has some guided meditation CDs I'm going to try one of these days soon. I got them because he is so well known for helping people become healthier in their minds and bodies, and his work is endorsed by medical doctors too.

I know this is not a direct answer to your post, but I recognize your anxiety and sadness about the state of our nation very well. Take care of yourself -- we need you to be strong and balanced in yourself for what is still ahead.

In closing, :hug:, and keep coming back.

Hekate

[enigmatic]

12. Don't apologize

I know it's the cliche of cliches (especially here on DU), but I've felt the collision course thing going on, too. W and Cheney are playing chicken with everybody else, and they are either too crazy (W) or too Evil (Cheney) to blink first. And everybody, including the MSM, know this and outside of the true nutcases, know that there's nothing they can do about it, either.

It's a scary time right now.

[salin]

13. early am kick

[Heidi]

14. Thank you for this thread. Off you go to Greatest.

:kick: and recommended.

[femmedem]

15. Writers, editors, readers--we're all feeling powerless, my friend.

My local paper is still independently owned. The editors are deeply concerned about the erosion of civil liberties, the concentration of power in the executive branch, and the lies which led us to war. My husband frequently has coffee with them in the morning at the local coffee shop. Yesterday, when he asked an editor how he was doing, he sighed and said, "Tired from trying to untangle the problems of the world."
But my paper, of course, relies on news services for national and international coverage. The editors have to decipher which of the biased stories available to them is the least biased.

This week the editorial page writers printed an agenda for what they would be covering in 2007. It appears that they will be focusing more on local and state news than national and international. Maybe I'm just projecting, but I think they're switching focus because they feel more powerful to effect change at the local level. At the national level, maybe they're giving up.

As for me, I send the editors stories from international news sources once or twice a week. Today I'll send them the article from the Independent which tells a different story about the battle of Najaf than does the article my local paper ran this morning. I have no idea if they welcome my e-mails or if they think I'm a nut, a PIA, or just irrelevant. They did recently print an apology to readers after I pointed out that they'd run something which was propaganda. So I occasionally have a small victory. And so I persist.

Sometimes the best we can do is very little, yet we must keep doing it, hoping that our efforts, combined with the efforts of millions of others, will get us somewhere.

I hope you can get some sleep, despite your extremely valid concerns. And I hope you can find a way to use your writing and journalistic skills for the public good. Speechwriting? Blogging? Eloquent letters to politicians? I wonder if you would be jeopardizing your job if you wrote freelance articles and op-eds on the side.

[stellanoir]

16. Hang in there Newsjock. . .

Consider engaging your heart and mind and pondering some other approaches, understanding full well that we are up against forces that are illogical therefore we could perhaps respond in ways that are not exclusively quite linear or traditional.

"I was once told a very long time ago that there would be a second flood. It would be a flood of ideas.

Pssssssst. . .I'd reckon we're about 5/6th of the way through it.

Here's a possible navigational tool that anyone can use to clear the plethora of foggy distortions:

Consider trying this out for a mantra. . .

"I co create with spirit that all those leaders who don't truly hold the greater good for ALL in their hearts as their absolute top priority, be exposed and stripped of all their power-pronto."

Rinse and repeat."

I'll link to some related posts shortly. . .

The rest of that text is on the link at the bottom of this post.

pure politics

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=41483

politics and astro stuff

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=3151528

midterm election post

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2589421

the pending full moon-scroll down to the *************** if you're not into the astro info-there's something I posted to Rep Conyers on Monday

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=245x36067

[Morgana LaFey]

17. Several things spring immediately to mind for you -- and others

First my disclaimer: I'm not a journalist myself but am more interested in the field than most Americans. And that makes me an armchair observer/critic.

I also want to say that I honor your pain. And I'd like to say that it's not for naught. I believe it's urging you to find alternative ways to satisfy your life's work.

And that brings me to those "several things." You realize, of course, that mainstream / corporate news is dead or nearly so. I don't know if it's possible to rescuscitate it, but IF that is possible it will still take a lot and a long time. They've done it to themselves, for the most part but not totally.

Because think of this: how do YOU get your news nowadays? Is there any one newspaper which could satisfy your need to find out what's going on in the world -- both hard facts and analysis?? Probably not. I think it was Bill Moyers who talked about putting his own newspaper together each morning from the pickings on the internet. And he's NOT alone. More and more people are doing just that. Will newspapers survive? Probably. But they will continue to lose their influence as more and more people have access to the internet and realize how limited and narrow in scope their local newspaper or even the NYT and WaPo. It's just not possible to cover everything any more, or even "enough" of everything to satisfy the news junkies and increasingly concerned citizens among us.

The blogosphere will continue to grow in importance becaues of all this. I know I'm not alone in the fact that MY main news/analysis source is DU (now considered part of the blogosphere, I suppose.) DU pre-sorts Bill Moyer's customized newspaper for me. I think many people use a selection of blogs like DKos and firedoglake and others for the same purpose.

Then think of the absolute explosion in what might be called collaborative newsgathering or democratic journalism (or perhaps you can find a term for it) that's happening again and again in the blogosphere -- how one person who has a blog will ferret out a detail or fact, and then the blogosphere explodes in echoes, then more voices do more research so more details and context and background can be added and -- lo and behold, in record time, the REAL facts and truth of a matter are discovered and well-publicized. Sometimes the blogosphere has even forced the mainstream media to make corrections and get it right.

I say your future is probably here, somewhere. We need you, every bit as much as you apparently need to work in news. If these ideas I'm discussing spark any interest, I implore you to explore what you might be able to do to go with the growing edge of journalism.

The other thing I'd say is that what you're doing right now (entertainment stuff and fluff, I take it) has some value too, so don't disdain it too much. As the times get really awful for so many of us, there's something to be said for turning to pure fluff for a slight escape, or a laugh, or just to be filled with pleasant awe at the dazzing attire at the latest Hollywood awards ceremony. During the Great Depression, attendance at movie theaters skyrocketed. I now understand why, as again and again I myself search out something that's funny or amusing or dazzling or just mind-numbing. Not all the time, of course, but more than I ever have in the past. So, I think there's a point to that kind of stuff too.

BUT if it's not where your heart lies, then go find and Follow Your Bliss, as the great Joseph Campbell adminished. For that is where your Destiny lies as well.

[happydreams]

18. Can the public take it?

That is a question I had in the past. I am now convinced that they can and will invite the truth.

After studying the Muckraker Era (early 1900's) which blew all the misconceptions about how nice our government and corporate America was out of the water, it was very heartening to see how readership of the magazines that exposed the stuff skyrocketed then plummeted when the banks bought up the mags.

[Ron Green]

19. I consider journalism to be part of the Church

in a couple of ways: First, it's a calling more than a profession, and the skills required are never fully remunerated. Secondly, it occupies the role of "superego" in our collective psyche, along with education, religion, science and other institutions that seek to influence without selling. The Market, on the other hand, seeks only to sell, and will forgo any moral principles to do so. In this it's analogous to the "id," looking for instant gratification and trying to influence policy through fear and hunger, the only things it really knows.

I suppose the history of journalism shows that it's always been a struggle to stay "pure," but we have a new wrinkle in the post-literate age: when creators of videography can directly engage the fearful lowers chakras of their audience, writers of checked facts and reasoned opinion are quaint practitioners of a lost art. As long as it's the Market and not the Church (of journalistic integrity) that has the jobs, you'll just have to brighten the corner where you are and hope for a turnaround.

Good luck in your job and in your struggle.