Passionate Journalism
When Michael White spoke in class on Wednesday, one of the things that struck a chord within me was his passion for writing about your interests. I had always thought that journalists were given their assignments and they had to write no matter what the topic was, whether they like it or not. However, Michael White showed me that a real journalist is able to write about things he’s passionate about. And why not? I know that when I’m reading article I only read the ones that interest me, and the ones that have a relatively similar genre.
An article written by Robert Niles says that passionate writing can replace the dullness of overused journalism. What that means to me, is that the writers individual passion can make a piece come alive. Which is completely true, I can always tell the difference between an article that was begrudgingly written and an article that was done by a writer who has a passion for the topic.
This brings to mind the case of Jayson Blair, the journalist for the New York Times that spent years and years faking and forging articles so that he could keep his job. He never showed up to press conferences, events, etc.., but he wrote as if he did, and his writing, quite frankly, sucked. Jayson lacked a journalistic passion, or he wasn’t willing to write about what actually interested him. Michael White’s comments really opened my eyes to be sure that whatever I’m doing for my career, it’s something I’m passionate about.
Embrace the Hornswoggle 