The End of an Erica

When I read Craigs Blog last weekend, I'll admit I was surprised and shocked. I jokingly tell people that every Sunday I attend the Church of Meet The Press, and for years referred to Tim Russert as Rev. for that very reason. To have David Gregory turn into just another spin sucking reporter broke my heart.

But then today, something else happened.

Let me begin with this. There is a great blog out of DC called EricaAmerica written by Erica Anderson, a young journalist who asks tough questions and demands answers. Erica was one of the MTV Street Team reporters during the 2008 Election. MTV chose to do a youth journalism program partnering with the AP and various other news agencies to report from every state in the country and Washington DC about what young people thought about the election.

Erica was the DC reporter. Since the election she's continued writing her blog about what's going on in DC and how it relates to the general whole of politics as she sees it. This includes pieces on Iranian protests, Don't Ask Don't Tell, the Tiller Murder, and all sorts of political issues from a front row seat at our nation's capitol.

Her best is a series of interviews and questions with Helen Thomas, the famed White House reporter who sat in the press room and asked former President Bush all of the questions no one else would ask.

But if Erica's latest blog is any indication, her recent hiatus might be a prolonged after the death of real journalism.

"The fate of journalism scares me. And it feels impossible, without giving up absolutely everything, including a personal life, to seek original content in my spare time, not just spin what’s already been spun. I think you all, the people who visit my blog, deserve some original stories. Not more GD spin."

And she's right. Outside of the major papers or news services we've turned into an country where we want our news pre-digested to fit our political persuasion. Whether Faux or Olberman our news comes with the talking points allocated by their respective sides. The rest is just a bunch of old white men who try and make jokes to convey their opinions while flashy graphics splay across the screen.

The best journalism comes not from these highly paid Larry Kings of the world with their five ex-wives or perfectly quaffed hair, but from the newspapers or bloggers who give up their lives and sometimes salaries to follow a lead.

Erica tells it best

"I was at a happy hour with a bunch of people who worked at ABC, NBC, CNN, etc. A senior White House producer from CNN asked me about Helen [Thomas]. I answered by asking her why people in the Press Corp didn’t follow up on Helen’s questions, the ones that were so OBVIOUS, like, Mr. President, are you certain Iraq has WMD? Why do intelligence reports contradict? Do we torture? You know, the basics.

The CNN Producer’s answer? “She makes us all uncomfortable.”

Uncomfortable? What a waste of a press pass. Someone who seeks the truth makes the Press Corp “uncomfortable.”

As young people begin college journalism programs I wonder how they feel about their ability to find jobs. Are they taught to strive for the on-camera personality or do they look for the job that lets them tell a story? Or ask the hard questions like Helen Thomas?

When my cousin had just moved to Washington DC to work for the Associated Press I went to visit her and we watched All the President's Men. I was probably 13 and it was my first time seeing it, but I remember she told me that the story made her want to be a journalist.

But does that kind of journalism exist anymore? And for those with whom it does - can they still get paid doing it? Or, like Erica, do they have to have a day job at the same time with journalism simply as a hobby?

I'll write a regular youth blog tomorrow, but I wanted to highlight Erica as being indicative of a profession I fear is being devalued and diminished right along with the other young people just like her. She talks about the too frequent accusation that the internet is forcing journalism into a by-gone occupation. It isn't the internet that is the source of the problem, its just sloppy bad journalism. Too many half ass producers and reporters feeling "uncomfortable" to hold someone accountable. Too afraid to ask the hard questions. Bloggers aren't scared - that's why people read them.

"Internet and technology will make journalism better off. More informed. More conscious. More like Helen."

Even if it isn't the end of an Erica, it might be the end of an era. I join her in hoping the future of real true journalism doesn't fall to people who refuse to do their jobs because it makes them "uncomfortable."