4726 What is Journalism?

4726 CAUTION. ADULT CONTENT

 We used to call people who keep track of the news “journalists.” But out in the real world, journals are more personal than that. Unless of course we started writing our stories as if they were going into an actual bound paper journal.

 Example:

Dear Diary,

I'm sad today because a few hundred men and women carrying guns and waving Confederate flags tried to take over that big building in Washington with the roof that looks like the tip of my big brother's weewee pointing up.

You know what else? That nice Mr. Pence ran away from those bad people.  Oh, and one of them wore a hat with moose horns put his feet up on Mrs. Pelosi's desk!

 

OR:

Dear Diary, 

It’s soooo boring! The basketball team from somewhere out west won some kind of award for being the best team in the whole country. Now I have to learn how to spell Giannis Antetokounmpo or something. Anyways, he’s a great big tall man who can throw the ball into that net so many times he even scored 52 points in the same game.  That’s still not as much as that handsome Mr. Michael Jordan who had 62 points one time.

OR:

Dear Diary, 

My friend Betty told me her gymnastics coach, Mr. Balancebeam, said some naughty things to her at practice yesterday. I told her she should tell her daddy or mommy and maybe even the principal, Ms. Papershuffle.

 

Those are the kinds of things that should go into a journal. Stuff that happens. If you want to get fancy, you could include a wish list. 

 

Dear Diary, here is my wish list for today: 

--I wish my high school crush would ask me to the prom and let me kiss him afterwards.  

--I wish I could pull an “A” in geometry class.

--I wish they’d throw trump in jail.

 

And where there are wishes, there are guesses.

Dear Diary, here is my guess list for today:

--The killers of Arbery in Georgia will get life sentences without parole.

--Angela Merkel had stayed on for another term like Putin and Xi.

--I guess gas prices won’t come down any time soon.

--I guess mom will hear about my geometry problems when she goes to open school night next week.

 

This is a thoroughly workable idea.  And some bright newspaper person will arrange a layout that permits these separate categories.  There'd be the news section, then other sections for entertainment, sports, and wishes.

 

I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®

Any Questions? wesrichards@gmail.com

© WR 2021