Complete Story
06/06/2018
Column: Social status low on list of priorities for most journalists
During the weekend a political commentator remarked on Twitter that journalists are no different than school shooters, in that both groups are largely attention-seeking sadists.
The commentator then tried to clarify the statement by saying that journalists “live” to harm public figures and celebrities, in the hopes that the aggrieved will mention the offending journalists by name and ensure their fame.
Of course, the remarks struck me as absurd. In 26 years spent in newsrooms in four states, I’ve never encountered a journalist who was in the business to hurt people.
The person making this observation — whom I have no interest in identifying — has a half-million Twitter followers and apparently fears an impending media hatchet job veiled as a news profile. Therefore, journalists are akin to school-shooters.
Setting that hyperbole aside, I thought I’d share instead some insights on who populates a newspaper newsroom and what motivates them.
