Journos Required At National Security

Journalists, some call them journos.

”Socially, a journalist ranks somewhere between the madam of a whorehouse and a bartender. but spiritually he ranks with Galileo, for he knows the world is round.”–Ben Hecht

Ben Hecht was born on February 28, 1894, and died on April 18, 1964. He was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist, and novelist. A successful journalist in his youth, he went on to write 35 books and some of the most enjoyed screenplays and plays in America. He received screen credits, alone or in collaboration, for the stories or screenplays of some seventy films.

The above quote is credited to him and remains one of the profound statements about journalists. According to Hecht, journalists might be considered ordinary by some people but they are professionals with enormous insight and information which lift them to the realms of sages and inventors. They are compared to Galileo, and who was this Galileo?

 

Galileo is the entity to which Ben Hecht compared journalists worth their mettle.

What enriches the journalists’ perspective?

1. First of all, one cannot be a journalist without being wide-read.
2. Journalists are not theorists. They live the experience and therefore provide authentic information unless such material is deliberately compromised.
3. A journalist who monitors international news could soon become an authority in the field.
4. Hunting for information and clues, over time the journalist becomes a reference point and opinion leaders in communities.
5. Journalists who are into specializations have evolved as authorities in their fields.
6. Journalists who are jack of all trades, covering every turf, are repositories of knowledge, versatile, and readily able to speak about any issue.
7.   Journalists have happenings within national territories and the international arenas in their palms. News editors are particularly the bus stops for news circulating in the system and worldwide, as they continually read, edit and organize news items relating to and reflecting life’s diversities.
8. Journalists will be useful and key to the satisfactory functioning of any national security set-up, becoming sources of updated information for the important institution.
9. Most journalists are well-traveled around towns and world capitals. They are also acquainted with a lot of people and situations.
10. They are among the best in the literary industry. They make good speechwriters and authors.
11. Editing being their mettle, and guided by ethics, journalists worth their salt are not reckless but careful to avoid slips.
12. CNN’s Richard Quest, a journalist with enormous research insight into aviation