Journalism Matters

The first amendment of the Constitution of this great country gives five freedoms to all citizens in this nation, one of them being freedom of the press. As of late, the media industry has been hasseled due to coverage of the presidential campaigns and other top issues, saying that there is bias when it comes to controversial issues.

Journalists have been threatened, harrassed and ridiculed for telling a story. Journalists have been construed to be menaces to society and people who want to uproot the values of this great nation. They say that "old" journalism back in the 1970s and earlier were the glory days of journalism, because things were exposed for the better of this country.

However, when controversial issues come to light, journalists are then the devil. Journalists become a great evil in some people's eyes. Journalism is then crushed as a field of work that just abides by an "agenda."

Did you ever think what a world without the media would be?

People wouldn't know how bad the murder rate is. People wouldn't know about the rising heroin epidemic. People wouldn't know about the scandals in the Catholic Church. People wouldn't know about Joe Paterno. People wouldn't know about Watergate. People wouldn't know about bombings overseas in Syria. People would be so ill-informed about the world around them.

Without journalism, the truth would not be known. History would be different. The government would be different. Sports would be different. Society as a whole would be different.

But because one outlet releases a story about something that you don't agree with no matter the facts behind it, you will hate the media. You hate the media because we open your eyes. You hate the media because we tell stories you may not enjoy but need to know. You hate the media because we expose people. You hate the media because we want you to stop living in a blissful world of ignorance.

You hate the media because you want to believe what you want to believe.

So before you go and say that the media is unimportant, just think about what the world would be like if there weren't people who wanted to dedicate their lives to finding out why something is the way it is. People who want to tell the story of a boy who shows that you can do anything you dream of doing. People who want to tell the story of how this one action can save thousands of lives.

People who want to make your voice heard.

Journalism matters.

This post was inspired by Bryan Vance.