My blog about writing, journalism, crime, faith, life as we know it, and politics (if I can’t resist the temptation to stop myself, and if I think I might have something useful to say).
As you can tell from the title of my second book, after 40 years as a reporter, I like to think I’ve seen it all. At least, that’s what I thought until a 16-year-old vampire cult leader came to Florida from Kentucky and killed the parents of one of his followers.
In my new book scheduled to come out later this year, tentatively titled “The Mind of a Vampire,” I write a little bit about why journalism is not as easy as it looks.
“Yes, you can take notes and dump your notebook into the computer, but there’s so much more to being a reporter. Cops, judges, and other lawyers are afraid that you are going to blow their case. They ask, ‘Can I trust you if I tell you something off the record?’ All the while, they wonder if you are fair, have an agenda, are honest, if you are a hard worker, sensitive, tough, curious, whether you are an idiot, or if you have fried the last brain cell while working in a field that has an ink-stained, besotted reputation from the sensational 1920s days of “Yellow Journalism.” Most importantly, they wonder if you are accurate.”
As an editor, I used to tell my reporters that it’s all about relationships and trust.
After making some stupid mistake at my first job, my editor said, “Doctors bury their mistakes. We put ours on the front page.”
In other words, credibility is all we have. It’s all any of have.
I promise you this: I will never lie to you.
My goal is to start a conversation, and possibly make you see things in a different light, make you laugh, cry, say “wow,” or scratch your head.
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