My passion for music is pretty evident from my previous posts; but there is something else that I am just as passionate about. I have been a journalist for over 30 years and in all of that time, one thing has been the most important part of my writing – integrity and telling the truth.
In recent years, my profession has taken quite a beating with accusations of misleading information, falsehoods, and even outright lies.
While some of those accusations are unfortunately true, they are a small part of the journalistic community; people who care only for stirring up trouble and supposed celebrity.
Journalists do what they do because they love the job, not because they are looking to get rich…much like most musicians.
I actually began my writing career on a challenge. The academic advisor for the college newspaper was soliciting new writers and when I tried to volunteer, he told me that he didn’t think I could do the job.
Not taking no for an answer, I marched myself down to the newspaper office and volunteered to my services. I began by typing other people’s work into the computer (it was the early days of using computers for publishing). Soon I began to write the news bites – mostly because nobody else wanted to do it -and finally I got to write my own article. And as they say, I was hooked.
At the end of the year dinner, the advisor admitted that he was wrong!
And I have been writing every since.
With the popularity of online publishing, it has gotten harder to find a decent writing job – an honest writing job, not AI written stuff, plagiarized, and fake articles. Most publications pay only pennies; so with that in mind, I began my own website. (Still not making any money, but at least it’s the truth).
And that is my main mission…to create the most truthful articles I can. I don’t write “hard news” but it is still important to make sure it does not contain lies.
I guard my integrity very closely; it is very important to me that my reputation remains in tact and that I continue to create the best work I can.