Career Choice
Being a college student, it is inevitable to Google search the current highest paying jobs, those lists also having the worst paying jobs featured. Personally, every post I have ever come across has journalism as one of the worst jobs to have, which has always surprised me. If different aspects of journalism are deemed as the worst jobs to have, then why pursue a career in it?
Journalism as a Whole
Looking at journalists, such as Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, showed the world what journalism is really capable of. For me, journalism gives a sense of trust; knowing that illegal and top secret information can be released to the public through investigating and hard-work. This is especially important in our current society because of current issues such as the email scandal with Hillary Clinton, President Trump’s tax issues, Edward Snowden exposing the NSA, and many other political issues.
Investigating
Journalism in our society is a way of creating different opinions and standpoints based on investigating and facts. Without journalism or reporting, citizens would not have any knowledge of what is going on in the world or even in their hometown. There would be no way to know about top secret information, politics, people, or the environment without journalists and their hard work in the field. Investigating and reporting on different issues can be extremely time consuming and difficult, especially when trying to be as thorough and accurate as possible. Different news outlets and companies have different requirements for journalists, but their job all together is to have people receive their story as quickly and accurately as possible.
Bias
The media today has been under much scrutiny, specifically by President Trump and his administration, as being bias and inaccurate with their stories. The 2016 Presidential Election was cringeworthy, to say the least. There are many news sources, like Fox News and CNN, that are directed towards a specific political party, that can divide the journalistic nature into different types. Obviously, this type of behavior can create stigma and distaste for journalists and the word they do, discrediting their investigations and work.
So why is journalism important?
We, as citizens, would not have any facts about current events all around the globe without journalism. The bias standpoint of some news outlets is still crucial and important to the overall standpoint of journalism, because it shows insight to different opinions that people have, whether it be on politics, the environment, or other social aspects. The audience gets to choose their standpoint at the end of the day, and journalism gives us the freedom to do so.