Adventure Eleven: A profession of bad guys?

Criticism is loud. Judgment is loud. Negativity is loud.

I sit here thinking about the shade being thrown at police. People talking about how corrupt the system is, how racist and biased they are, the injustice that occurs on a daily basis.

I think about men and women who focus their academic journey on becoming one of these people. I praise them for what they do, but I can't help but wonder how anyone could remain faithful and committed to the career path they've chosen after seeing the social and political unrest and backlash, seeing people turn away from those whose job it is to protect and serve them. Their profession is getting a lot of heat, but they're still in the game. what?

I guess anyone could ask me, an aspiring journalist, the same question. And people have- they ask me why I want to go into an industry that receives their fair share smack for being biased, shady, selfish and having little concern for the stories they cover and more concern for the increasing the population of eyes and ears they attract.

It is disheartening to listen to my peers of non-journalists bash what I've committed the past almost four years of my life to studying and loving. I try not to take it to heart, and patiently listen to their tired rant about how we're all just in a game of who can exploit what the most and who can make the biggest buck. All fair accusations, thanks to countless movies, television shows and cartoons that depict us as so.

But I've learned that I need not let these hurtful assumptions, naively and simple-mindedly caste upon my fellow journalists and I, knock my passion for the field.  I have, instead, allowed it to fuel my fire; to have it serve as my motivation for perfecting my skills; to push myself to perform at the highest level of excellency; to vow to carry out the principles and ethics we so whole-heartedly stand behind.

We're going to make mistakes-- all of us within our chosen professions-- because we're human and we're flawed. But it seems unfair to place blame on the entire group for one persons error. Especially if we promise to push and commit ourselves everyday to carrying out our responsibilities fairly, passionately, justly and with enthusiasm. We must hold others and ourselves accountable if we want any hope of combating whatever inevitably stereotypes poisons our names.