Could you describe a journalist's job duties?

It's a difficult thing to describe and it does include a lot. But I can promise you it doesn't include some of the things many people think it does.

You can ask a journalist to do a lot. We can ask questions for stories, do some investigating and publish stories to make the public aware ... we do a lot of dirty work, but we can't do these things without solid reason. We can't write something that we don't have complete proof is true. We can't write something just because someone is angry at their ex-husband. We can't call places and tell them how you feel just because you don't want to.

This morning when I came into the office I had a lovely voicemail from an older man with a raspy voice. He left it late last night and it said:

"Hello ma’am,

You have this trial for this man, or boy, who killed that police officer in Taylor. If you know this he’s in the center of a court room and he needs to be handcuffed and shackled so he can never hurt anybody again in his life. He’s that type of man who if he can get a gun in that court room he will. He’s an evil individual his record speaks for itself and then once he’s sentenced personally I’d say kill him, I’d like to personally kill him. That man should be put in solitary confinement for every day for the rest of his life then he can never hurt nobody again.

That man, that boy, is a piece of (explicit) and if you don’t relay this message to the court about him being shackled you’re a piece of (explicit) too. And he deserves whatever comes to him, especially death, but I advise you notify the court and say he needs to be shackled for real and he needs two deputies on his side at all times. He should never have an eye taken off him, never."

It came form an unknown number and he didn't leave a name.

When I first listened to this today I hung up at the "I'd say kill him" part. I needed to take a breath and prepare myself to hear the rest. Then I listened to it all. 

After laughing about the absurdity of this anonymous voicemail I started to wonder, why on earth do I need to call the court for this guy to tell them that? If he can call me anonymously, can't he call them anonymously? It made no sense.

Relaying such a message to a court of law is not in the job description. And why in the world would a court official listen to a Downriver journalist? We got power, but we ain't got that kind of power.

It's not uncommon to receive angry voicemails from readers. I've had people leave messages complaining and admitting that they don't really know why they're calling other than to let me know how they feel about something. There's a lot of listening involved in journalism.

There's more criticism than anything in journalism. Stories about crime get the most hits on the website so people obviously read it, but then they complain that we don't do enough positive stories. There are always people happy about a story, and then there are always angry about a story. We're constantly accused of being bias and choosing sides, no matter what. It's a never-ending battle and you just have to accept that you can never make everyone happy.

You have to have tough skin to be a journalist, that's for sure. When people insult you it's best to laugh it off. We joke here in the newsroom all the time about the various insults we've received. Then you'll have someone contact you with praise, and it will trump all of the negative comments.

So, despite the insults, demands and explicit names I've been called, I love being a journalist and it only makes me aware that you're reading my work when commentaries are left! It is in our job description to write work that captures the readers' eyes and any feedback is evidence that we're succeeding!

Catch ya' later, Internet World! :)

"Journalism will kill you, but it will keep you alive while you're at it." - Horace Greeley