On The Fourth Estate...

For as long as I remember I wanted to be a reporter. It was cool. The fourth estate brought about change and helped keep honest those in power. It was an honorable profession…but that’s changed in the past few years. Today reporters have a reputation of a DMV clerk selling Amway to senior citizens who can‘t afford it.

How did that happen? Woodward and Bernstein got smacked down by Bill O’Reilly and Matt Drudge. Attitude and opinion made front page news and fair and balanced got whacked like some mid-season NBC replacement series. Who's to blame? How President Bush for starters. He’s fucked up more things than Fredo Corleone.

Being a reporter is not without its challenges. And the natural enemy of the reporter is the editor. It’s a wonder anything gets written after the editor gets his hands on it. These are the same kinds of people that tape Home Shopping Network. I’ve said it before the greatest emotional need of someone isn’t to feel needed rather it’s the ability to change another person’s copy. And that’s what the editor does. For instance, if an editor got their hands on the Preamble of the Constitution, starting with “We the People…” No way an editor would let that fly. Instead an editor would ask, “Which people?” All Men are created equal…”An editor would rip that to shreds too. Are you sure you mean ALL MEN? What about WOMEN?

One of the hardest things about my job is that the sources don’t tell you anything…….they really make you work at gathering information. So the sources come up with these cutesy little phrases to try to explain away the information. They come up eith phrases such as “Soft launch.” What is that Bob Dole before Viagra?Another favorite phrase? Thinking outside the box…And everyone’s doing it. I call bullshit. But now there’s so many people thinking outside of the box you have to climb back inside the box because there’s nobody there. That’s the place to be.