What does journalism mean to you?

As humans, we have innate desires.  One of the most powerful of these desires is the need for information.  Especially in this day and age, we consume information about the world around us constantly, even if what we're learning does not directly affect us.  We must learn and share, inform and understand.  In fact, the only way we can cope with much of our lives is to find a way to understand what happens around us, or at least convince ourselves that we understand, even if we have no hope of doing so.  The free sharing of information is crucial to a democracy, otherwise those in power can so easily take advantage of that power and abuse it.  Without the sharing of ideas and stories, no one would be able to come together and make a change, or fix a horrible situation.  No one would be inspired by the success stories of other people achieving their dreams.  Each person would live in their own small world, never having a chance to expand.

And this is what journalists make possible.  Recently, the quality of journalism and the media in general  has gone - to put it eloquently - down the tubes.  News has become entertainment and entertainment has become news.  The definition of a journalist has become hazy at best, and many people have begun to distrust those that call themselves as such.  But fundamentally, a journalist - a real journalist - is something that embodies the word knowledge.  Journalists' first obligation is to the truth.  To discover what that truth is and then make it known.  They must also be an independent verification of that truth, allowing people who need and want information and knowledge to rely on what they're saying and then be able to form their own opinion from that information.  The world is full of those spouting their own, uneducated opinion.  It has no need of more of that.  It DOES have need, however, of pure, simple and unbiased knowledge, so that those who want to make an informed decision, actually can.  And that is what a journalist is.  An embodiment of truth and knowledge.  A person who puts their own selfish instincts and opinions on hold so that others can have the truth.  

http://www.journalism.org/resources/principles