I am a Blank Slate

When I was a freshman in Journalism school, I was intimidated and anxious, but excited about the certain brilliant career I had before me. I would have a brilliant career after all because I was an editor for my high school paper. I also won a writing award, that one time. I was at a world-renowned journalism school, working for real newsrooms. I would travel and meet famous people (Hillary Clinton famous, not Megan Fox- I was a serious journalist). Maybe I would write a column for The New York Times, and when I earned enough, move back to St. Louis to career-climb at the Post Dispatch and start an alternative weekly. Those would be the days.

This illusion lasted until my first journalism class, when the Dean of the Journalism School told us we could expect to make $27,000 after graduation. After $20,000 in student debt, that was a low blow. I still think he thought it was amusing.

I stuck with it though. I could deal with an unfortunate starting salary. What started to eat at me though were the attitudes held toward journalists and journalism students. And when I started to learn what corporate journalism was really about, I became pretty disgusted, too.

It’s hard to pinpoint “the problem” with how the media report policy issues.

Press organizations are bound in a business model that can limit content and discussion. They have to make money to survive, so they write about the inane, the strange….blatantly, unimportant things people like to read about. I read Dlisted every morning before I read John Combest. I can identify.

They avoid important political discussions to please advertisers.

In my Capstone class, my Political Science professor said, “The problem with the media is that it is problem-focused instead of solution-focused.” I responded, “They can’t help it!” How can anyone expect the media to suggest solutions to public policy problems? The backlash would be unbelievable.

I wanted to create this blog to provide some source of solution-focused content. Maybe media and policy analysis. I’m not really sure what I want this blog to be, but I do know I want it to be a source of discussion.

I am coming at all analysis with a blank slate. I want the truth, the pragmatic reality, what should be. If I’m wrong, then tell me why. After years of writing policy memos, I want someone outside a Political Science Department to learn the facts about public policies that the conventional media has failed to convey.

That’s what I want to create. Hopefully this is a start.