I quit my job at a newspaper this year. Rage-quit it, even. Literally stormed out of my bosses office, telling him “your loss!”
Do I advise doing that? No, absolutely not.
Was it very satisfying and also the best thing I did for my career in a long time? Definitely.
I became a journalist about 10 years ago, really more out of necessity than enthusiasm. I have a degree in English, German and Scandinavian literature, which tickled my book-loving brain in just the right way but also doesn’t really lead to an obvious career. But I can write, so Journalism seemed a good choice. We have a beloved children’s character in Germany, called Karla Kolumna. She is a newspaper journalist, riding around on a scooter and keeping the establishment (mainly the lazy, greedy mayor of Neustadt) on their toes. THATS how I imagined, being a journalist would be like. Minus the anthropomorphic talking elephant, maybe.
In reality, two years later I got burnout and a very exciting job-opportunity in marketing. Which I took. (I think to this day, my years in marketing have made me a better, more well-rounded journalist).
We need journalism, but different
I went back to journalism last year, because I still believe in it. I believe, we need it to check on those in power. To tell it like it is. And also to bring some softness back into our political and social discourse.
Wait, what?
To be honest with you, I only ever dare to talk about my concept of “soft journalism” in the online safe spaces I have made for myself. Because it sounds counter-intuitive, doesn’t it? But let me explain:
As journalists, we are supposed to be the corrective for those in power. We fail to do that, currently. Yes, the freedom of the press is in a sorry state just about everywhere, true. But journalism is too. In our very real fear of becoming irrelevant, we pander to everyone. We try not to alienate any of the readers we still have. We fail to stand firm where we should, we run scared of being “too woke”, too progressive. And almost as if to counterbalance that, we viscously attack, where it is easy to do so. The private lives of the rich and famous? Fair game, no privacy respected, go for it. An influencer doing something vaguely questionable? Attack. We are supposed to keep the higher-ups on their toes, right? (We’re not talking about actual crimes here, by the way. When those are committed by the rich and famous, the press suddenly goes very quiet. Go figure.) Stories like that are easy wins. But Journalism isn’t supposed to be easy.
It really is neither softness nor hardness we’re lacking. It is EMPATHY. The judgement to decide, what to pursue (because it serves a higher purpose) and what to let go (because it might be an easy target, but isn’t really relevant in the bigger picture).
Remember the job I rage-quit? In the month before my harsh exit, they published 5+ articles about a local chef who had closed his restaurant, leaving a handful of people unable to use their gift cards. They called his cancer-diagnosis into question. They published private facebook-conversations. They knocked on doors in the village, getting people to accuse him of various things. They basically ruined that mans life, under the guise of helping about three people get their money back.
At the same time, People in Gaza were already dying of hunger because of the blockade. Rapper Macklemore went on stage at a big festival in the region, calling out all the governments still supporting Israel. Did they choose to amplify that message? Acknowledge it, even? Write about the difference between actual antisemitism and criticism of a fascist government, maybe?
I’ll give you one guess and my rage-quit might give you a clue.
Let’s get rid of the trust-issues
I recently talked to someone famous, telling them enthusiastically that I was a journalist. I’m more of a writer and journalism-mentor these days, but I didn’t feel the need for that specification. Only a few days later, having gone back over that conversation in my head countless times, I realized:
Maybe, being a journalist isn’t cool these days.
Maybe it is more of a threat.
Maybe people don’t know, when and who we’re going to attack.
We have to earn that trust back. No, really.
We can absolutely tell people that no one gives a sh*t about the private lives of celebs, please turn to books or movies for your entertainment. We can TELL people, what’s important. In fact, it is our job to do so. To stop picking low-hanging fruit and start listening to the marginalized, the oppressed, those that don’t have a voice and make them heard.
Ok wow, went a little Braveheart there, sorry. But seriously. THATS our job. Lets go do it. And I promise to find a better name for it than “soft journalism”.