On leaving journalism

Slightly before 2:00 AM Thursday, I signed off on the 137th press run of The Badger Herald for the 2005-2006 academic year. And with that, my tenure at the paper came to a close.

My final column is, fittingly enough, on the death of the American newspaper. In it, I argue:

The past three centuries have revealed the rise, peak and decline of the newspaper. While there was a time as recently as the 1980s when news only came in two formats — 30 minutes long and six columns wide — the reality is that today the print media is a mechanism of nostalgia that borders on being outright anachronistic.

I also purchased a quarter page ad in the final edition of the newspaper, which is not available online. It is a simple list of those whom I wish to thank on my way out, and – for me – a sentimental reminder of all those who have helped me along the way.

In what I considered to be a rather touching and kind move, The Daily Cardinal thought to include a cut-out of me in the “Where’s Waldo”-style cover that graced their final edition of the academic year.

As I have indicated before, this will mark the end of my career in journalism – for now at least. After nine years on various beats, it seems like a proper junction for me to part ways from the only profession I have ever truly known.

The reality is that journalists are one of the most underpaid and overworked groups of people in the professional world today. Much of this comes from a glorification of the job, largely emanating from the cult status achieved by newspaper writers in wake of Woodward and Bernstein becoming Hollywood material. And while I love muckraking, interviewing and writing as much as anyone, I also realize that the lifestyle such would provide me is not one I can justify at this juncture in time.

As such, to fill in some of the personal details, I will be headed off to law school in the fall and plan on working toward a JD over the next three years. I know most of the lawyer jokes and realize our society isn’t exactly begging for another attorney, but it is a profession I have long deemed admirable. For what it’s worth, my early thoughts lean toward criminal law – the defense side, to be exact – but I also plan on keeping various doors open for the next few years.

In terms of this blog, it was born in Washington, DC almost two years ago and has been truly active for about 10 months now. I will be keeping it and Madison politics are likely to remain the core focus for the near future. As life takes me to a new city and in new directions, I suspect the course of The Right Side of the Road shall, too, change. But for now, expect more of the same.

In leaving the world of journalism, there are, however, a few thoughts I’d like to convey. While I certainly depart on a bittersweet note – feeling essentially forced out by the cheapness with which the industry is regarded – the experiences I take with me speak to the tremendous nature of the world that is reporting. Consider a few highlights, merely for the sake of anecdote.

During the course of nine years, I have interviewed movie stars while balancing a beat with high school; chatted with presidential candidates; worked spin alley at a George Bush v. John Kerry debate in St. Louis; was in Des Moines, Iowa the night of the 2004 caucuses – sipping cola on press row at a John Edwards event when Howard Dean started screaming; traveled through the state of Wisconsin with Tommy Thompson as my car became the fifth vehicle in a Secret Service-led motorcade; sat in the third row of a press conference where Barry Alvarez announced his retirement; argued with the governor; dined with the mayor; drank with alders and supervisors; chatted with anonymous sources; woke up in hotel rooms not knowing which state I was in; debated Bill O’Reilly on national television; and, for two weeks in February, 2006, found myself at the heart of a national debate over the limitations of free speech and necessity of a transparent press.

I share this not to boast or hype myself, but rather to demonstrate the power that is a press credential. If ever you want to see how the world truly works, there are few better ways to do it than with a notepad in one hand and a tape recorder in the other. The fourth estate may be ridiculed, but it is also part of the American fabric and an institution with perhaps more power than its own members often realize.

And so if you ever have occasion to contemplate entering the world of journalism, consider this: I am 22 years old and after less than a decade behind a keyboard, I have enough memories and stories to get me through cocktail parties for the rest of my life.