“Journalism’s” headlock on the body politic can be broken, and we can do it. I do it every day here in North Central Louisiana.
But it’s not a part-time thing, and it requires commitment.
One of the most disappointing things about launching my own newsblog has been the reluctance and laziness of folks in my area to join in and also do newsblogs. I get all sorts of advice on what to write about and what to investigate, but very little help when I ask someone to attend a school board meeting and do a writeup while I’m at the city council meeting.
But most are very content to show up at the coffee shop in the morning and run their mouths about the no account politicians on the school board, but that’s all they’ll do about it. Ask them to go to a meeting, and suddenly there’s this important episode of Duck Commander on TV that night.
And if you decide to become a reporter, you can’t start and then taper off on coverage. Once you start, you can’t quit. People expect news coverage every day.
It requires giving up the Lazy Boy once or twice a week to go to meetings and report on what happened. You have to sit and listen and take notes. Who made the motion. Who voted how. How much did the yearly budget increase or decrease. What’s the tax millage rate for the year. Which councilman wants more taxes.
Then you have to collect your thoughts and put it into clear, concise writing that a reader can understand.
It’s called news reporting.
Opinion stuff won’t do, until you have built up some reporting credibility. Once you’ve established your skill as a reporter, THEN you can pontificate on who should do what.
Whatever else the MSM is, they have more than their share of writers, and they have the commitment, for whatever reason.
We have writers, too, but what we don’t have is the commitment.
And it hit me, “Who does this guy Armstrong think he is - a reporter or something!!