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When the Supreme Court ruled on DOMA the same day that Trader Joe’s announced they were coming to his town, Sun Sentinel Cartoonist Chan Lowe declared why newspapering is still his passion …
Here’s what was published in the Sun Sentinel June 27:
There’s a thrill to being in a newsroom when major events are occurring. Everyone present is there because he or she wants to be, and we all feel a connectedness with the events and with each other because it’s our job, as professionals, to gather the information and explain the story, according to our specialty, to others.
There are all kinds of journalists: Investigative and beat reporters, sports writers and columnists, feature and entertainment writers, critics, copy editors, editorial and opinion writers, even people like me. Some have referred to it as a calling — like being called to the clergy, or to be a first responder. It’s nice to get paid for it, but there’s a reward in what we do that doesn’t appear in the numbers on a paycheck. You have to have a passion for it, particularly at a time when the future of a career in the field looks, at best, murky.
Yesterday was one of those special days, when we all felt the professional bond of being news people. Fortunately, it wasn’t a tragic day, like the Challenger disaster or 9-11, but it was no less significant. It was seasoned, too, with personal feelings. There are gay reporters and editors in the newsroom, and many of us have friends and loved ones who are going to be affected by the Supreme Court’s decisions on gay marriage. When you work alongside people you depend on to make the team function, you learn that personal differences don’t mean anything. All that matters is that they’re good at what they do, and that they do it by deadline.
In the middle of all this, somebody said our website was getting a huge number of hits on a story about the specialty grocer Trader Joe’s coming to South Florida. Everything — whether it’s a Supreme Court decision, a grocery store opening, a Prancercize video, or a dog getting sucked into a drainpipe — is important to somebody.
It definitely took some of the luster off that feeling of heeding a higher calling. Let’s hope they buy an ad.