What is a journalist

Anxiety pours out of you as sweat covers your palms; stress twists your stomach into knots as you don a façade of confidence, walking into your first day at work. What does your boss demand? What will the clients expect? Will you please those you work with? For many jobs, these questions are simple to answer; however, these questions plague the journalists’ society more than others, as the old question of “what is a journalist” has yet to be clearly answered. In my opinion, a journalist is an educator. They are expected to keep the citizens updated on all the essential happenings around the world. Among the many epidemics filling society, one of the worst is apathy. It is the job of a journalist to evoke emotion in their audience, to give them a reason to care. In this age of modern technology, many argue that we are all journalists. While this is true to a point, not everyone can have access to top news conferences. Not everyone can travel to other countries and study the political and social activities there. A journalist has opportunities not offered to the average citizen to experience events that are still pertinent to the average citizen. Therefore, this is their duty: to inform the common man, in a largely unbiased fashion, of what is happening in his world; to educate the fellow citizen so that they can make wise, independent choices; to be a watchdog and teacher to all.