A journalist's POV: the Duggars, dead people and liberal media

Two weeks ago, a local man was killed when a V8 engine fell from a truck's flatbed and struck him through his windshield. I wrote about the accident last Tuesday and followed up on Friday with an article about how a memorial scholarship fund has been set up in the man's name. For that article, I spoke with his friends and family. 

That same Friday, another local motorcyclist was struck by a semi-truck that failed to negotiate a curve. The motorcyclist died and his dog, who was on his motorcycle, was injured and later euthanized. I spoke with his friends, too, to write an article about the accident. 

This is why I love my job. I write about really painful things sometimes - things that make me question my own mortality and, in turn, cling to my loved ones that much more - but I get to portray life as it happens and people as they are. I've been consistently shocked at how quickly grieving people respond to my messages, wanting to share memories of their loved one through their pain.

"Thank you for writing this story." 

"Thanks for telling people about [name redacted]."

"It means a lot to celebrate him like this."

That's only a sample of the responses I've received after asking people to talk about their lost loved one. These comments don't really flatter me; in my opinion, it's my job to do what I do and any other person in my position would be asking these questions. It doesn't make me special or generous to write about a person who died too young. 

I don't think I am a noble person, but I do think journalism is a noble field if executed correctly. I hear so much about the evil "liberal" media that it makes my head spin; even recently, following the molestation scandal, the Duggar family tried to change the conversation from a family that hid a history of sexual abuse to a family that was abused by the media after sealed case files were released. That is an argument I do not want to get into here (mostly because I'm obviously unhappy with the Duggars and would just be reiterating what thousands of people have already said) but I do want to note how these kinds of situations create a caricature of a journalist. 

journalist (noun - jour-nal-ist) 

a. a person engaged in journalism; especially: a writer or editor for a news medium

b. a writer who aims at a mass audience

c. a shitty person who just wants a story, will do anything to get it and is likely a liberal commie

I am prone to getting upset when people misrepresent what a journalist does - especially since these days anyone with a computer and basic cognitive ability thinks he/she can be a journalist and that's just not true at all - and the way the Duggar family has responded to this scandal by blaming the media has absolutely enraged me. But it's not just the Duggars; it's everyone who attacks the media for reporting a situation when the facts are right.

The thing is, people don't want anything negative written about them, even if it is true. My boss wrote a column about the Duggars expressing frustration that the family loved the media and the fame the media brought them until their not-so-wholesome history came out of the woodwork. This is likely true for everyone: Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, Jeb Bush, that guy who took your order at McDonald's, me, you.

This creates the image of the evil journalist, notebook in hand, prepared to attack at any given moment. Basically, people who don't know me but know what I do will view me as a snake forever on the prowl for unsuspecting mice.

I'm sure these people would be surprised to know that, when I came home last Tuesday after writing that article about the man who died in a freak accident, I cried for an hour. I asked Gideon why things had to happen so unexpectedly, why bad things had to happen to nice people, why the world keeps spinning on and why I felt so helpless through all of it. I told him how nice the guy sounded, quoting his widow verbatim.

"He was the best person she knew," I told Gideon. "Now he's gone."

Please don't take this to mean that I hate my job; on the contrary, I love it. I love that it allows me to feel and to help other people through tragedies, even in a small way. I love that the article I wrote might have encouraged some people to donate to that scholarship fund, in turn helping a student through college who likely needs the help.

However, I don't love that few people understand how empathetic a person needs to be to work as a journalist. That means that I go home at the end of the day worn out in the best possible way from all the research and interviewing and writing I did that day.

As I said, I love my job.

I just wish more people would understand what my job is.