Commentary
Ashley Terrien

Getting the truth into the view of the public and invoking discussion are the motivations for a journalist.

What we want is for people to pick up the paper and see what’s going on around them and question it. Should these things be happening? Do these people deserve what they’re getting?

Some people don’t even realize the injustices or issues around them until they pick up a paper or watch the news.

A newspaper is an outlet to catch your attention and say, “hey something’s happening in the world around you.”

And when people are provoked by what’s printed they write letters to the editor, post about it on facebook, and cause a commotion about an issue that they want to share their opinion on.

That is the point. All journalists’ want is to spark a reaction from the readers.

Our goal is not to anger everyone with every article, but to give information about topics that some people will avoid talking about.

Journalists tear into controversy because they are the ones with the guts to speak freely in a public fashion that could potentially offend someone.

That doesn’t make us bad people, it just makes us braver than the ones who only say things behind closed doors.

We get behind those closed doors and expose the issues and the people for what they really are because that is what we set out to do the moment we become journalists.

We do not create the news, we report it.

People being angry with us makes us want to do our job even more.

At a journalism conference a professor told me that if you are not offending anyone then you are doing your job wrong.

Being offended causes anger, anger causes passion, passion causes a reaction and a reaction is exactly what we want.

Journalists will not be censored.  We will not be controlled.  And we will stop at nothing to give the public the truth to the best of our ability.

The constitution protects the freedom of press and we are taking the first.