Message to my journalist daughter, after a demoralizing campaign

Young Caitlin, leaning into her future career

My husband and I wax nostalgic when we say that we came up during the golden age of journalism, when newspapers were flush with money and reporters were admired for their dogged pursuit of the truth.

It's hard to remember now, but in the 1970s the American public generally respected journalists – albeit sometimes grudgingly, especially if they were targeted in those dogged pursuits.

Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein became icons of a career that promised the glory of truth, justice and the American Way. Like Clark Kent, reporters were really Superman against the bad guys. John and I were all in.

That was then. Today reporters are often considered enemies of the people and blamed by the powerful for creating the “fake news” they uncover – for ratings, readers, what have you.

Even huge news organizations cower to power. Witness the recent decisions by the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times to prevaricate on endorsing a candidate for president, even though their editorial boards were ready to name their choices.

So my daughter, the journalist, finds herself questioning her career, which is considered of little value, totally worthless, or downright threatening to the social order.

After the long night ending the long presidential campaign season, her editor-in-chief sent the staff a note acknowledging their hard work, and admitting her own fleeting ambivalence about carrying on:

“It feels a bit tired to say 'journalism matters now more than ever.' But it does,” her editor wrote. “I know it's exhausting. A few weeks ago I said, 'I'm not sure how we are going to do this again.' But the fact is, I do. We will keep living our lives and keep doing this work. We have to.”

God bless people with vision. All I could do was amplify that for my daughter with journalism in her  blood:

Yes, Caitlin, journalism – and your work in it – matters more than ever. Put that on your mirror and never forget it.

As an editor, I  kept a dog-eared quote on my desk, so I would never forget my role in the democratic process: Hold everything to strictest scrutiny. That's the crucial job of journalists, and the reason why the scrutinized want to do away with them.

Don't be dissuaded. Yours is a most honorable profession.

Of course, you know and I know what holding everything to scrutiny means:  When your mother says she loves you, check it out.

XO Mom

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