Journalism or Investment Banking?

I was listening to NPR’s radio show “Tell Me More” yesterday and the topic intrigued me. A professor of finance was challenging a student of journalism at Columbia regarding the practicality of entering a field that may not have a job to offer him when he graduates.

Upon graduation he would be handed a diploma and $50 thousand in debt. If there ever were a job opening waiting for him it would only pay about $10 per hour as an entry-level journalist, which isn’t glamorous by any means.

The finance professor recommended journalism students double major in business and journalism so they can explore the different avenues of the field. Does he mean advertising, public relations or investing opportunities? Rubbish! Those of us who want to write true stories and save the world with our pens would abhor the idea.

So is there a place for those who wish to enter the traditional field of journalism?

The finance professor said any “J” school student who thinks they are getting into “1985” journalism will be surprised to find out the current field is NOTHING like it. He is right. Spending time doing deep investigative stories scooping the muck out from under the government is harder to do. There isn’t time. Of course there are a few archaic fixtures typing away at the papers still standing, but young journalists won't find a themselves in that position. One reporter now does the job of what 3 reporters used to do in the past. Newspapers merely can’t afford it anymore.

But there must still be a need for good writers who have a passion for non-fiction storytelling!

Everyone knows print journalism was suffering an economic crisis before the rest of the world took a hit in the gut crippling the industry only more. Hiring freezes and decreasing advertising revenues were just a start. What about the content? Studies show typos and errors are increasing in newspapers.

Needless to say I feel the Columbia journalism student lost the debate. He was left stuttering. However a degree from Columbia in journalism is very shiny and pretty to those in the industry who may still be hiring. He may have a chance. What are the rest to do? At what point does an impassioned and ambitious young journalist give up the dream and study finance only to sell his soul to Wall Street?

I wish I knew the answer.

The War on Ideologies

I was reading a story in the Dallas Morning New yesterday afternoon titled “Deadly Bombs Challenge Iraqi Leader.” This paragraph below inspired this post:

“Al-Maliki, a Shiite, has based his political fortunes on overseeing the sharp reduction in violence and fostering a sense of national pride among Iraqis who are eager to see the Americans leave.” –from wire reports, DMN 08/20/2009.

From my understanding the Americans entered Iraq to eliminate “weapons of mass destruction”, which were found to never exist, and overthrow the tyrant Saddam Hussein who was the ringleader of a very deadly and corrupt government. The U.S. assisted in starting a new government, a democracy, with Prime Minister Al-Maliki in the forefront.

With this description of good will on our part, why then do the Iraqi citizens want us out of their country?

I think it has something to do with our somewhat intrusive foreign policy dating back to Teddy Roosevelt and his “big stick” (the U.S. Navy) foreign policy.

Teddy’s way to conduct foreign policy was to carry a big stick and speak softly, an African Proverb. In order to exercise this view, he built up the U.S. Navy into the international beast it is today.

“Roosevelt believed that nations, like individuals, should pursue the strenuous life and do their part to maintain peace and order, and he believed that ‘civilized’ nations had a responsibility for stewardship of “barbarous” ones. –The Encyclopedia Britannica online.

His policy set precedents for presidents that followed him. America became this big benevolent bear that stomped into any countries territory in the name of democracy demanding they help…sometimes clumsily.

Any virtue, when taken to extremes, becomes a vice.

What we sometimes don’t take into consideration is that that foreign country has a very acute ideology that is completely different from the one our country was founded on. Those of us who learned how to walk on U.S. soil as babies are soaked to the bone with American ideologies of freedom, equality, opportunity, etc. Ours is based on a separation of church and state, of fractioned religion, of cafeteria Christianity. Capitalism and democracy works great in the U.S. for that reason.

We have a very unique country, and sometimes it might be a mistake when the big benevolent bear bumbles onto another’s soil and waves his “big stick” at their ideologies.