The Untold Story

My Ocean View
By Jennifer Roush

In this week’s Lumina News editorial, we talked about the freedom of the press. I’d like to spin off that article to discuss why many of us become journalists.
Starting out, I knew I cared about people’s stories. I observed the things around me, and I didn’t want to feel impotent to do anything about them, so I went into journalism. Granted, the news page is not a forum for my thoughts, but it is a place where I can reflect things that are observed and to be the observer for others.
Being a journalist is a title some do not respect. However, it is a role you need the most honorable people to fill.
We are the proponents of truth, the community advocates, and the ones who will put themselves on the line to tell the story that needs to be told. The ones who learn a subject enough to become a mini-expert in order to inform a community.
I can say, personally, I want to be like an unbiased mirror of the things I report. I believe in justice and that means not compromising your integrity, being fair, doing the research and caring enough to tell the truth even when it’s hard – even when you may receive backlash for it. Many of us who are in the profession don’t want to run over people to get a story, we want to find and tell the truth, so it reaches the light of day. We want to tell the untold story.