Through the Looking Glass – The Personal Consequences of Journalism
By Tommy Jordan – August 24, 2012
The search for relevant and poignant information that’s both up-to-date and important for parents and teens to know leaves me disgusted with humanity with the vague sense of the taste of vomit in my mouth. Yes, it’s that bad.
Considering the offer from ParentingTodaysKids.com (PTK) to become part of the team bears with it a sense of responsibility previously unnecessary in my writing.
I’ve blogged over ten-thousand pages over the years. When I thought about that I considered how long that would be if it were printed in one book. At approximately six-million words, that’s more than the King James Bible, War and Peace, Atlas Shrugged, and the entire 14-book Wheel of Time series put together. I’m curious about things like numbers and such, constantly doing math in my mind all the time, so I looked it up. Those books have 788,288, 460,000, 540,000, and 3,431,000 words in them, respectively. That still adds up to a mere 5,219, 258 words, leaving me with almost a full million words more I’ve strewn across the internet in the 15 years I’ve been a presence.
Though my writing has always carried with it a sense of my own style, I’ve also attempted to staple my reputation to what I write, always double and triple-checking sources, especially when I’m speaking on a blog about a controversial issue. While one can’t always be right, one can at least fall back on being well-cited if the Schumer hits the fan on a hot topic. Journalistic integrity was always something I strived for in my writings, but now I’m actually compelled to uphold it; a fact I find both welcome and scary at the same time.
So I sit here, surrounded by computers with fairly-giant flat panels around all my desks. I’ve got four flat screens connected to two computers where I do my research and writing. Being officially grouped into a category with other “professionals” has brought out the journalistic side in me, which I enjoy being able to feed. However something today struck me as spooky… really spooky.
I walked out of my office to get a cup of coffee and came back in to begin writing about an entirely different topic altogether. As I started to sit down at my desk I was struck by what was on my screens. Perched on angled brackets before me in the dim lamp-lit office are fifty inches of glowing, shiny LED screens, each one chock-full of some of the most truly grim keyword searches I’ve ever performed. It struck me what others who really “do this for a living” must deal with on an average day. The content on my screens isn’t anything I would knowingly want to see.
No normal person wants to see this stuff. It’s depressing at best and revolting at worst. In order to find new and relevant content to help parents and teens understand the dangers of the internet people, including me now, have to search out and setup alerts for some really grim stuff.
I wrote an article a few days ago about Delhi Charter School here on the PTK site. It was so well received because it was new and hadn’t been beaten to death by the media yet. Had it been published a week later, none of you would have read it. You would have read the semi-hashed over bytes from other news agencies and assumed it had no new perspective. That search for fresh relevant news and things that matter to us right now in the moment, requires diligence and keeping on the very front of information.
PTK is about educating parents, teenagers, and my specialty in particular is technology and how it can be used, both in good and bad ways. I use it myself, teach it, consult about it, and so I’m a good source for leveraging that skill for a journalistic edge. My own personal goal with PTK is to bring stories to a full light, rather than just having a good headline.
Tools as simple as Google news alerts are wonderful for staying abreast of what’s happening so we can share with the world things they need to know. Doing so however means looking through the trash of the internet to find what might be a gem you need to know about. And while I know this, and in fact enjoy the challenge, it struck me that I’d have a really hard time explaining to anyone who walked in what in the world I was searching for online. If it’s that way for me, it’s probably that way for many who do this for a living as well.
I originally decided to chronicle what I searched for today in an effort to see what new developments might be happening in the world of teens and technology; not to gross you out or to scare you or have you think less of me, but to give you a glimpse of what others on the forefront of parental education and child safety must have to deal with every day.
In the search for important issues involving children, technology, social networking, parents, and the internet there are certain keywords that yield better results than others. Going to a news engine or search engine and typing in “Technology+Teenagers+News” isn’t going to cut it. You need to dig deeper to find the stories, and dig VERY deep to find the stories that most people are oblivious to. After all, it’s my firm belief that if parents knew what was on the internet, and I mean REALLY KNEW, what their kids were exposed to, each computer in a home would come with a physical key that Mom or Dad kept on them at all times and no child would ever surf the net unattended.
To really get at the bad stuff takes some seriously twisted thinking. When I first started this article my intention was to share with you some of the things that have gone through my news searches today, but the more I think about it the more I think I’ll save you the outrage and depression you’d see if you saw what I saw today in my search for relevant information to share.
Instead of doing that, I’ll leave you with these thoughts.
- The Internet is a dangerous place; slam FULL of people who are sick and twisted and devious in ways you can’t imagine.
- The reporters and investigators who work to bring those stories to you have to see it all, daily, hourly; even the things that will never make a headline because they’re TOO controversial.
- Keep those people in your thoughts when you’re reading their work some time. As interesting as these stories are to read, it has to take a toll on those who are out there on the front lines gathering and writing it for you.
- If it ever gets to be too much, or starts to jade how I see things or how I write, I hope I’ll have the introspection to recognize it and quit writing that very day. There are just certain things I’d just as soon forget.
I have a new respect for the contributors and editors of sites like PTK and maybe a little better understanding on why some of them are so die-hard in their approach, even when I think some of them are occasionally over the top. (Ha, who am I to be calling someone else over the top, right?)
If you’ll excuse me, I have to go write what might be the most controversial mind-blowing piece you’ll ever read about the Internet and what’s possible on it! (Yep, I’m gonna blow the lid off this sucker!)
Image credited to www.neatoshop.com
AUTHOR OVERVIEW
I can only imagine whats out there and as you say we only see the tip of the iceberg.I am old school but not to the point of burying my head in the sand and pretending bad things happen to other peoples kids .Thank you for your part in keeping me informed and aware.
My wife used that exact phrase when she and I were talking yesterday. The “tip of the iceberg” is right. The next article takes you deep into places you probably don’t want to go.
Wow, That is a lot of writing you’ve done. I’ve been trying to read it all for the last six months…
Kidding aside, the net is full of disgusting messed-up people bullying to cause harm. That is why I appreciate the software contest. My nephew is 16, and I want us to protect him from predators.
Thanks for not telling us some of the vile things you come across in research. I like that. Last week, my sister was upset by witnessing abuse. I said, “I’ve seen parents behave in ways that still give me nightmares from 7 years ago.”
She said, “Like what?”
“You don’t need to carry that-just pray for all the children.”
Thanks Joe
And as for the “not telling us” comment, I’d firmly suggest that anyone with delicate sensibilities stay far away from my next article. It’s…. well, it’s not the kind of thing I want my Mother to read. That’s for sure. The content is… rather explosive.
I’ve gotten authorization from the attorney’s to make it a “go” and now I’m just waiting on the editing team to release it on the site.
I will not miss it (just may have to hide it from sis.)
Good thinking getting the “go”! Perhaps it will be the dose of reality that puts a parent into a proactive plan to protect their kid…
Best Wishes.
I’m not sure why you added to your “tally” of words to write this blog. Is it enough just to write words in order to compare yourself to “War and Peace?” I’m not so sure. Here I’ll do you a favor and rewrite your article to give you an idea of how long it could be.
“This is a teaser to let my readers know I’m in the process of researching an article on how easy it is for unregulated, unfiltered and inappropriate content to reach our children over the Internet. I had hoped to have it already done but the deeper I look, the more alarming information I find.
Therefore I will continue to research so that I can hopefully provide actionable information that can improve your ability to intervene on behalf of your children and provide a safer Internet experience for them. Thank you for your understanding.”
I think that’s pretty much the article in less than 100 words. To help you out especially if you like numbers, instead of the 1285 words you wrote, I’d suggest you only needed about 100. About 7% of what you wrote, or using you “Tally” only about 420,000 words of the millions you wrote were necessary. That’s still a lot of writing so I’m kinda at a loss as to why you’re not getting better.
I also take issue with your patriarchal tone. It’s not up to you to decide what I would feel if you provide me the same information you have. Who are you? Other than a long-winded self-absorbed, self-appointed know-it-all I’m not seeing much.
Mr. Jordan you have gathered an audience to you and therefore have a greater responsibility to hold yourself to a higher standard if you wish to have a conversation with them. Please do.
Actually, my intent was to discuss how interesting it is to be inside the mind of someone who has to do this for a living and to express how surprising I find it the toll it can take on one’s state-of-mind, and sometimes general outlook on things.
Further, you can’t please all the people all the time, and I guess your name wasn’t on the day’s list when I wrote this.
I like what you guys are up also. Such intelligent work and reporting! Keep up the excellent works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it’ll improve the value of my site
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