Pointing fingers at the media? Get over it. NOW.

By Isabelle Abraham

“Journalism is dead.”
“Sensationalists, not journalists.”
“It’s the media’s fault.”

And the list goes on. Yeah, I get it. Journalists aren’t the most popular of people. Just take a look at poor Daniel Pearl. We’re being blamed, we’re being sued, and we’re being murdered. Not the most delightful of careers. But at least we’re trying to do something. It’s true that in news today, reporters are more concerned with entertainment than fact. But who’s to blame for that? Certainly not the numerous consumers who pay to read that garbage.

Think about it. If you know (from experience) that citizens want to read about scandal and sleaze, what are you going to write about? Duh. Those readers pay for that stuff, and that money goes into the journalists’ salaries. So they’re going to write about scandal and sleaze.

The media gets blamed for ruining lives. For negatively influencing young people. For not being fair, for not being factual, etcetera, etcetera. Sure, we accept all that. Yet plenty of good has been done too. There are journalists who have made a difference. A good difference. People’s lives have taken a turn for the better. And all thanks to whom? Yeah, you know whom.

The media has been blamed enough for problems that exist in society.

It’s time that PEOPLE take responsibility for what they’ve done to themselves. Some people just lap up what the media feeds them. If they want to take things at face value, it’s their problem, not the media’s.

Still sceptical? Take a look at these articles:


· Don’t Blame the Journalism
· A new threat to media freedom
· Semenya: The media’s to blame? Huh, am I missing something?
· Dear Winnie: You don’t own media freedom

Let it out... let it ALL out

By Isabelle Abraham

Deadlines. Deadlines. DEADlines. That is my life right now. Any lovely delusions I might have had of journalism were crushed a long time ago. Now there’s only constant stress, the non-existence of sleep and, of course, the pressure to keep up with the pace in this ever-changing mediated world.

Yet, if someone offered me the chance to be anything else, I’d still want to be a journalist. Why? Because as clichéd as it sounds, we have the power.

We have the power to improve lives or to destroy them. Citizens respond to us: they read our words, they listen to our bulletins and they watch our broadcasts. We’ve got influence. A lot of it. But what have we done with it? The objective of today’s media industries is to make money. The idea of profit has blinded the original purpose of journalism: to convey the truth to the public and to give a voice to those who can’t speak out.

Now all we get is shoddy reporting, misquoting, the inaccuracy of facts and a few cases of plagiarism here and there. The most disturbing thing of all is that sensationalism has become the new body suit for writing. Ludicrous headlines, gross exaggerations and the exploitation of exclamation marks: these are what sell newspapers today. And people just lap it up. Well, why shouldn’t they? After all, journalists are supposed to be looking out for the public’s best interests. Yeah, right.

If you’re like me, and are bothered by the way things are run in the media industry, then why not type about it? We need the opportunity to unload our burdens, to comment and to complain, without feeling restricted by chains. This is where our hero Journopad comes in.

Journopad is here to restore dignity to the reputation of journalism.

It is a friend to any journalist and reader around the globe- it enables us speak out... on a blog. Want somewhere to publically let out your frustration? This is the place to do it. No beating around the bush, here you can be brutally honest on how you really feel about the world of journalism. On Journopad you’ll find it all: the humour, the outrage and the controversy. So let it out... let it all out.

As journalists we need to realize our role in society. We have the authority to inform, to engage, and to empower. Let’s use that authority to do at least a little bit of good in this crazy world.