DEFINE JOURNALISM: Why we need more REAL journalists

 Journalism was first invented as a method to check government. In the United States a newspaper was first invented to keep the colonist informed on important information such as government (both international and national) and other things happening within the community such a weddings, deaths or other events. Journalism has always been a way for a journalists to communicate with a large on audience on information they deserve to know. 

However, journalism has always been highly controversial. The definition of journalism has varied since the founding fathers began the United States and created the First Amendment, which gave journalists freedom of speech. 

I define journalism as people who express their opinion, state facts, begin new dialogue and contribute to a discussion. I am a journalist. I love writing opinion pieces, doing research to bring new facts to those who need to know them, and contributing to a discussion. 

Journalism has become very hard. There is the constant argument that journalism no longer exists. Mostly, because today, anyone can become a journalist. In just a few minutes and clicks on a computer you can start your own personal blog or post to a blogging website. No one needs a degree in journalism to express their opinion or release news bearing facts anymore. 

So the big question is: why would I want to become a journalist? 

When I tell people that I am studying journalism the most common response is, "finally, we need better journalists in our world." I always question what they mean by this. There are plenty of fantastic journalist that I read every day. I finally came to the decision after a conversation with my mother that it is not so much that we need "better" journalists, but rather we need journalists that want to deliver factual information that better the people. 

All you need to be a journalist is the ability to write. However, being a good journalist is much harder, you need to learn how to provide the people with the information they deserve to know. Not everyone knows how to do that. In recent years, people have discovered that journalists have covered up information that the public ought to know. Journalists also need to learn to present every side of the story with room for discussion. Most journalists today do not do this. 

To answer the big question: I want to be a journalist because I want to provide the public with information that they deserve to know in a way that is bipartisan and opens a discussion. We need to better define journalism and journalists. I am not just a journalist, but an advocate for the people. A REAL journalist advocates and acts for the people.