PressEthic

Opening up Romenesko this morning, I find myself immediately taunted by the leading headline: Profs: J-students not interested low-paying newspaper jobs. Apparently all the students are heading over to PR, advertising, and marketing to "maintain" the lifestyle in which they were raised.

"What about that, j-students?"

Well, Connie Schultz, I can't argue with you. All I've heard since starting J-school-- and this is from my professors-- is "people are still going to J-school?" Everyone scoffs at the idea of working for newspapers in the same way they did when I worked at non-profits.

I guess I'm just destined for a low paying career.

Talking to a journalism professor, Shultz finds out that-- shock! gasp!-- girls these days want to be event planners. I mean, come on-- Paris Hilton is famous. That fact alone must lead us to assume that there are hoards of people out there who would love to get paid big money planning parties for a living.

No wonder nobody wants to make peanuts to write for publications that no one reads. It's tough for the young ones in J-school-- because it's our friends who aren't reading the paper. It's the 18-30's that have abandoned the hand-stains of newsprint.

Shultz talks much about the mission of journalism, mainly, sticking up for the underdog, fighting the good fight, coming to blows with evil and corruption. She says that if that's liberal than "one can only hope" that journalism professors are liberal.

Is the whole idea of journalism to fight for the underdog? Is that really what it's all about? To bring down the man? Get at the corporate giant? I'm not totally convinced, and I've got a few liberal j-professors.

I thought the job of a journalist was to search for the truth. Expose the truth. Tell the story-- deliver the news. It can't all be sensationalism. If the world is having a lucky day, it's not. Journalism shouldn't be an advocacy profession. You can't complain about being called the liberal media, and then revel in being the liberal media. It just doesn't work that way.