50 Shades of Journalism

By Tommy Acosta —

Sedona, AZ – Journalists come in all kinds of different sizes, shapes, and colors.

We have the journalist—the quintessential journalists, those journalists out there who will put their lives on the line to get the story. They brave hurricanes, floods, fires, natural disasters, and volcanoes.

They put themselves in danger without any care or concern for their own lives, except that of getting the story out to the public. You’ll see them at wars, you’ll see them going after the mob, going after corrupt governments where journalists are regularly blown up and killed just for trying to get that story.

But they are brave. They are resolute. They want the public to know and are willing to risk their lives to get that story out. Yes, these are the journalists who uncover grifter politicians and scandals and go in there and get that story honestly, with bravery and nobility. Those are the kinds of journalists that we deserve

Then there’s a different kind of journalist: editors, publishers, who have seen it all, done it all, and no longer claim to hold a monopoly on what news is. They create content and build platforms for people to have fun, to be seen, to be heard, to be able to respond to other publications that put them down when they have no recourse.

These kinds of journalists are there to entertain; to give people a chance to express their views and argue, to create fun, to educate, to help people better understand themselves and the world. They offer the public a chance to write, to do their own articles ; to become part of something bigger than themselves.

 These kinds of journalists have done it all—they’ve been through it all, they’ve seen it all, and now they’re like leaning back and just enjoying the fun, providing a place for the public to be heard and for approaching articles from a different perspective altogether than those journalists who claim to know the truth.

Then there are the journalists who spout ethics and rules and regulations by which a journalist should live by, rules meant to be obeyed in order to be called honest, coming up with all these “should be’s” and “shouldn’t be’s.” Meanwhile they themselves are unconsciously guilty of breaking the very rules they claim journalists should follow.

They think they know everything. They think they’re reporting. They think they’re being unbiased, but meanwhile they are totally biased despite what they claim. These are journalists who attack the little guy without giving them a platform to fight back.

Then there are the journalists who do so for power or prestige and utilize their platform consciously to gain power, to push their perspective, to gain stature in the community with a hammer, to get what they want. They form alliances with others against others, and they do so fully conscious of the act itself.

Then there are the worst-of-the worst journalists: those who are boring! When one picks up a newspaper or reads the news online, they don’t just want sterile facts—they want to be roused. They want emotional content. They want to feel the articles, not just read bunches of words that appear on the screen or page. It’s not about the ink. It’s about the feel.

So yes, we have all kinds of journalists in this world-in big cities, at the federal level, in small towns.

So be aware, dear reader, that those who cry the loudest for truth and justice are often the first to defy what they spew.