What is Journalism

Journalists write about 2 percent of what's interesting.
This quote from stellar journalist James Fallows is my credo and my inspiration to try to do creative work in the field of journalism. The highest ideal of journalism is not to "inform the public" (an ambiguous and potentially self-righteous slogan), but to foster and satisfy a broad curiosity about the world. The finest journalism combines the powers of observation, analysis, and good writing to give vibrancy and meaning to our lives.

The function of the media is to put our lives in context. But the media are a filter of reality and thus distort it. They overemphasize and make melodrama of violence and political power in the world at the expense of the more meaningful personal drama and cultural dynamics that shape people's lives.

The media also operate with coldly scientific traditions and assumptions of what is news, along the lines of "objective reporting" (which is impossible) and "just the facts" (which is arroga...