What is a journalist?

 Simply put, journalists are informers. They are writers, speakers, photographers, persons who have made it their interest and passion to tell others about what is going on around them. A journalist is a person that gathers and/or presents recent information and news to the public.

  Now, this broad definition can apply to most people. And one journalist, Nathaniel Clark Fowler writes on journalism, “Nowhere in this book will be found definite rules or regulations, which would be of no use to the intelligent reader, and which would not be understood by the ignorant one.” His mindset is that a journalist's job should not be regulated. However, there should be qualifications for true journalists, established to preserve their honesty, clarify their purpose, and instruct the public rather than deceive them.

 Most essentially, journalists must be characterized by honesty. This begins with informing others about whether the journalist's information is biased or not."To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful." a journalist, Edward R. Murrow, explained.

 This extends to a journalist's purpose for doing what they do too. If someone is simply a journalist for the money, rather than having a passion for that business, they are in more danger of dishonesty in their work. Honesty about what you're presenting and why you're sharing it are essential to be a true journalist.

  Still, journalist's must be cautious. Honesty must come with the grace of considering the people you are sharing about and your audience. Tell the truth, absolutely! But be wary that you are presenting things in a way you would be willing to see them, or a way you would want to be seen. "Every journalist who is not too stupid or too full of himself to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible. He is a kind of confidence man, preying on people's vanity, ignorance, or loneliness, gaining their trust and betraying them without remorse." Janet Malcolm claims. Yet this seems to only reflect the majority of journalists. Not all truth is picture-perfect, glamorous, or beautiful, but even the harshest truth should be given with thought to graciousness.

True journalist's must be honest, true to themselves, and gracious in their work, because it's their life, their work, and what they do will mold the minds of the next generations.

My TeenPact Story...Or something like that...

I found this as I was preparing for my presentation the other day. Apparently I had written in the weeks following the 2015 TeenPact State Class and completely forgotten about it's existence. It's rather lengthy, but I had no idea how inspired I was by attending TeenPact.....Perhaps it will inspire someone else as well....

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   Did you know a chimpanzee once ran for the Presidential Primaries in New Hampshire? Did you know New Hampshire is the only state to have a Governor and Executive Council? Did you know the first battle in the American War for Independence was actually fought in Northern NH?.....Did you know New Hampshire established the first free government in the world?

   New Hampshire is one of the freest and most unique states in the US. Despite our small size, we have more Representatives in our State House than almost any other state. This means each of us have some of the best representation in the world. We have more freedom than some people even dream of having, but so few of us realize this. So few people of this generation understand the gift they have. And so many of this generation don't want to know or care either.

  That is just how a society crumbles. That is exactly how freedom is taken away. In fact, it isn't really taken at all. We are giving our freedom away. Or, probably a better analogy, we're throwing our freedom away. 

   To me that is a crushing thought. To realize that we are throwing away one of the greatest gifts we could ever have so we don't have to be inconvenienced. Do we really think so little of all the freedom we enjoy that we aren't willing to work hard to keep it?

  This past week I met, talked with, and listened to so many men and women who challenged me not to be that type of person. People like Rep. Dan Itse, Rep. Josh Moore, Secretary of State Bill Gardner, and Executive Councilman Dave Wheeler expressed to me and the other young people I was with the need in NH for young men and women to rise up and become involved in our government. While a group of TeenPact staffers encouraged us to learn more about our government and prepare to become the men and women our country needs. And I watch dozens of young people walk away inspired to be whatever God planned for them to be.

  The program that made it possible for me to meet and learn from these people is called TeenPact. I attend their four-day State Class for NH terrified about what I would be pushed from my comfort zone into doing. And I left, still terrified of the great job that I now realized loomed before me. But, you know what? I also left those inspiring days behind to become a much braver young citizen of the United States. 

   Over and over again, I used to get discouraged by the way I saw our towns, state, and country heading. Honestly, that discouragement makes it hard to hear or learn anything more about government, politics, etc. However, slowly, I realized though how accessible our state government is, how well represented we could be, how much freer we are than the rest of the world...Suddenly, that little seed of hope my mind was watered. It's just a seed - a tiny thing really in light of the great world we live in - but it was watered anyways. And it grew; I grew. God still has hope for this nation. So, I pray, He will continue instilling that hope in other hearts, like He did in mine.