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ABOUT ME
I was embarrassed one day when working on a story with my friend Sara at Ohio University. It was an eight-minute piece about the reality of the American Dream in southeast Ohio. Late on a Sunday night we sat filtering through all our interview footage trolling for stellar sound bites-- not too long, not too short, and hitting at the heart of our story. About 10:30 that night, after nearly five hours of going through material, listening carefully had become a chore. It was about this time that we were listening to an interview I had done alone with a local pastor. And though processing interviews at this point was tedious, watching it is something neither I, nor Sara will forget.
About two-thirds of the way through the interview I asked the pastor why he personally decided the American Dream was not worth pursuing in his own life. He replied with surprise.
"You want to hear about me?" he asked.
"Yes," I said, "We're all about telling people's stories."
Sara paused the video in the edit window of the computer screen and erupted in laughter.
"We're all about telling people's stories?" she jeered. "Wow, Andrew!"
I should convey the true earnestness with which I spoke those words. I really meant it as I blurted out the unofficial motto of journalists everywhere. Hearing it come out of me really did sound corny and worse, all too cliché.
Her laughter continued.
Admittedly my pride was slightly bruised, as there was no mistake that she was laughing at me. I feel as if the combination of sheer silliness that came from my mouth through the screen and our late night deliria led to her outburst. Her outburst became our outburst as I joined in some self-depreciating giggling.
Reading this, you may wonder what this has to do with Andrew Fowler, the journalist. First, it sends some overt signals about the kind of journalist I want you to believe I am; one that works for hours straight in the night, can use editing software, can work with others, can get along while working with others and can write a decent narrative (you be the judge). But beyond these things, I want to show that I have grown in my understanding of journalism since then and it continues to grow.
As silly as it sounds declared in an interview setting, I do want to tell people's stories, but I want to do even more. Journalism is about truth and at the most basic level getting people the information they need to know. Even still, I want to believe that journalism can make people feel something. The range of feeling can be endless and not every story will reach to the depths of the human soul to uncover those hidden emotions. But I think journalism, whether local or national, about a parade or war, uplifting or downright dismal, can bring some real perspective to our shared state as human beings on earth.
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