I was sitting in front of my computer in the news room of the Daily Nebraskan a week ago Sunday. I was writing my falsely labeled "Required Listening" column about the Boris album "Smile." One of my coworkers, Mr. Jeremy Buckley, was having a Facebook chat conversation with one of our regular year reporters, who will remain nameless to protect their reputation, about the greater virtues of journalism.
Anonymous was ranting on and on about how journalism's only purpose is to keep those in power in check. Journalism is rebellion. Journalism is all about fucking the man and fighting the power. Anonymous feels that a journalism is only journalism if it is bringing down corruption and enacting change, and journalists are only journalists if they are at the forefront of this change, whatever it may be.
They stood very firmly in this belief and seemed to be talking down to Mr. Jeremy Buckley. Upon reading this, Buckley simply replied, "I see your point, I'm going to go back to writing my preview of the new Tilly and the Wall album now."
This verbal face-off got me thinking. Here I am observing a conversation between two people with conflicting views of what it means to be a journalist. One was very convincing in their view that only investigative and activist journalism is true to the art, and one was comfortable in the belief that journalism was art in itself.
As I sat writing my album analysis, I pondered whether or not I was a real journalist. I am predominantly an arts and features writer, I've never really written anything investigative, apart from a research piece about the effectiveness of N-card scanners on campus vending machines, still my best news story. When I switched to the arts section of the Daily Nebraskan, I did so because I wanted to have more fun and freedom with my writing. I felt bogged down by the inherent restrictions of hard news.
At that time, I still saw myself as a journalist. I was talking to people and writing articles based on what I collected, just like when I wrote news. But when I heard these new accusations that a journalist was only a journalist if they were holding those in power accountable, I began to think.
Was I doing all these things required of a true journalist? Was my arts coverage nothing more than a fun supplement to attract readers to the "real" journalistic sections of the newspaper? What about sports and opinion writers? Were they the same?
I then got to thinking about what it is I actually do as an arts and features writer, as well as the system I cover. Just like the political, religious and business systems that news writers cover and uncover, the artistic side of America has systems to watch as well.
There are record labels that control how artists look, sound and behave. There are fashion firms that dictate what people wear and how much they should pay for their clothing. Publishers dictate what is and isn't literature. Production studios tell us who the good actors are and what makes a good movie.
And then there's the advertisers. There is a stigma surrounding arts journalism that it really only exists to support and endorse things. Only the "good" movies are reviewed. Only the "popular" artists are interviewed. Only the best sellers are read. This is because arts journalism is often seen as just a way for those who make the popular books, movies, albums and fashions to promote their products for free. And this is part truth. Many arts writers subscribe to this ideal.
I, however, do not. I will write a bad review of a film if it's rubbish. I will scorn an author for a shoddy book. I will burn a popular artist for making an album of nothing but overproduced commercialism. I will tell the fashionistas that they look utterly ridiculous in their overpriced, wasteful garments.
I will be the first to criticize the label executives. I won't stand for the skewed remarks of the publishers. I don't legitimize the words of the fashion industry. I don't subscribe to Hollywood's ideas of what and who is "good."
I will never be the writer who reviews something merely because that company advertises with the newspaper. I won't ever exclude anything because that company advertises with the newspaper. I will not negotiate with advertisers.
Even though I may not be writing the stories that tell citizens that their governments, churches and corporations are corrupt and out to manipulate them into submission, I am writing the stories about those who have power in the other most powerful entity reigning over the citizens of this nation, the entertainment industry.
There is no denying that the entertainers of this nation have comparable power to the politicians and religious leaders. Just look at how good musicians are at swinging votes.
Someone has to keep those in power over the entertainment industry in check. Someone has to make sure that the propaganda from the enemies of the news side doesn't filter its way into the way this nation pacifies itself. Label executives, publishers, producers and fashionistas all need to be kept in check just as senators, pastors and CEOs do, and it's my job to do so.
That makes what I do journalism. That makes me a real Journalist.
CASEYWELSCH@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM
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