A lot of intersting comments on whether people think I'm a journalist.
- Don't take this wrong, because I think what you do is valuable, but no, I don't think you're a journalist. I think "journalist" implies a level of training and discipline which is associated with a professional...
- I agree with the previous comment. Plus, you aren't as accountable. You can use anonymous sources at your own discretion. If you get something wrong, sure, it's embarrassing, but you don't have to worry about getting reprimanded or fired.
- If Nathan begins to
outright lie or be in some way dishonest, sure, he won't be fired. But
he will certain earn the ire of his readers, and don't think he
wouldn't be called on it.
He's not a "professional" journalist. He's not a "trained" journalist. Hey, he may not even be a "good" journalist. But if he's writin' about what he's seein', he is in some way a journalist.
So, let's call him an amateur journalist. Good grief, we need some terminology that confirms he must be held to some standard, yet realizes that he's doing it on his own time in his own way. If Mencken's reports were journalism, heck, about anything will fly under the term. (I say that respectfully of ol' H.K., of course.)
- How about this: call bloggers who are quoted in print and on the air media as "bloggists." Kinda combines the two. "Journalist" should be reserved for those who hone their craft within the confines of a traditional college education. (Keith Edwards being the exception here..."talking heads" are just talking heads.)
- Hell, Peter Jennings didn't hone his craft within the confines of even a high school education...
Some of the comments seem to have been made under the assumption that I've never been paid to work as a journalist before.
In fact, last year, I wrote an article on the brawl between the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit fans for a national magazine called Venues Today. (Earlier this year, the Journal Gazette described Venues Today as "a leading industry publication" in an item about it naming the Memorial Coliseum a "top stop.")
The story I wrote focused on the impact the fracas could have on sports venues in the future. Because of the timeliness of my report, it was published not in the monthly magazine but the weekly news supplement that all subscribers receive via email.
I was paid somewhere in the range of three figures for my work. You can read the article here.
It just might qualify me as a professional freelance journalist.
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