The journalism we want

Lekan Otufodunrin writes on the “inner cry” of journalists in these random thoughts 

Our bylines, voices, appearance and work project us as superstars, powerful and influential.

Indeed we are all we appear to be and much more.

We are members of the fourth estate of the realm.

We are respected, dreaded, appreciated depending on who we are reporting and what we report about them.

We have constitutional backing to hold the government accountable to the governed.

We expose corruption in low and high places.

We are the voice of the voiceless.

We are harbingers of good and bad news.

We enjoy lots of privileges.

Our job takes us to places, we interact with the high and mighty.

We transform lives and sometimes shatter lives

Ours is indeed not only a noble profession but a necessary one.

But beyond the glamour job, we have many issues to contend with.

We hurt.

Our job can be heart-wrenching.

Our newsrooms are not called madhouse for nothing.

We have low and high moments.

We lament how demanding our job is considering general low pay.

Our conditions of service make us feel like low rated professionals.

We fight for the rights of others, but our rights are denied in our newsrooms.

We wish our bosses care more about our inner feelings as humans and not only as reporters.

We wish our organizations can be better managed and be as profitable as they should be.

We appreciate how hard our managers are trying to keep our disrupted Industry ship sailing in the midst of the raging storm.

But we want a better working environment, better pay and concern for our well-being beyond work.

We want bosses who are emotionally intelligent

We want media owners who know what it takes to run media organizations and can make the necessary investment to get their desired returns.

We are proud of our profession and we want to give it our best.

Notwithstanding the hazards and deprivations, our passion and love for the job have kept us going and we are determined to stay on, knowing our work matter for the good of the society.

All we ask for is that we have a profession we can all be proud of and be ready to give our all.

We care about journalism, we want journalism to care about us.