I love to write. I've been writing since I was about ten years old. Whatever comes to mind, I enjoy conveying it though the written word to whoever wants to read.
When it comes to reporting the news, sports or weather, I was taught by my mentors to either tell it like it is, the way the story actually is unfolding, or to label it as an opinion piece. The reader of news, sports or weather has an inherent right to hear the truth, and that is what the free press and journalism is all about. I get discouraged with my fellow journalists when I see their stories being slanted, either by them or by their editors, to meet the editorial policy of the company.
There are a lot of journalists from different countries in the Middle East right now as events there have moved to center stage. The journalist has the ability to tell us like it is really happening; yet, CNN tells a different story than Fox or MSNBC. The stories should all be essentially the same and the opinions should be on the editorial page, where they belong.
Our President, more than any other President in history, sees the need to control what news we get and what that news says, and the press and media seem largely to comply. It is time that journalists got back to "telling it like it is." Otherwise, Freedom of the Press is an absolute farce.
There's a certain glamor in writing, but those of us who love the trade would just as soon keep the fiction on a page separate and distinct from the news.
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