On the edge of my seat

The journalism industry today is plagued by pessimism. As budding journalists, we are constantly riddled with cynical discussions and statistics of how newspapers are dying, journalism jobs are disappearing and readers are abandoning papers. When your career of choice is placed in such a negative light, it’s easy to lose sight of why you chose to become a journalist.

A presentation on the First Amendment by First Amendment Center Founder John Seigenthaler and USA TODAY Editor Ken Paulson reminded me why what we do is so important.

It’s not often that a journalism talk puts me on the edge of my seat, but theirs did just that. Their captivating look at the First Amendment’s history, importance and implications – from the “cycle of freedom and fear” to the FBI’s file on “Louie, Louie” – refreshed our Chips Quinn class and served as an inspiring pep talk to gear us up for our summer internships. It reminded me that as the only constitutionally protected profession, journalism is so worth the small pay, hectic lifestyle and sometimes pessimistic forecast. As guardians of America’s basic freedoms, watchdogs of government, recorders of history and storytellers, journalists may not directly save lives (although sometimes they do) or drive many Porsches, but they have the best job in the world. As long as free speech remains a basic human right, journalism will exist to defend and uphold it. John Seigenthaler and Ken Paulson reminded us of that.

-- Kathy Adams, University of Texas, The News Journal, Wilmington, Del.