What’s the first impression you want to give people?
I have never stopped to think about the first impressions of people who meet me.
What I have thought about often and covet is my journalistic reputation. From the very beginning I have strived to impress that the truth is more important than throwing out an article, just to claim the title of first.
When I write an article, offering something not found in other articles is a must whenever possible; even if it is just a small bit of information. All too often in doing research, I find that every article is exactly the same.
In college, I was given a press release at 5pm, after the office I needed was closed. At the press conference the next morning, the same information was repeated. – a conference that ended after the paper was to go to bed for printing. The editor was holding everything up waiting for me to write the story. I went with what I had which come to find out had some wrong information. When I found out, I was far more upset than my editor; who was even a bit pleased that he got at least another week on the subject – the paper was printed weekly.
Ever since then, I have strived even harder to provide the most accurate information as possible. I avoid gossip whenever possible and if I can’t confirm a piece of information, it doesn’t get printed…when in doubt, leave it out.
A first impression for a journalist is important because it gets a reader to return; but, if there is no integrity, they will not stay.
First impressions don’t always mean much, especially if the person doing the observing can’t see past the physical view – age, disability, body shape, etc.