Proud to be in journalism
An academic study, as reported by CJR Daily:
Published in the winter 2007 volume of Journalism History, "Depression, Drink and Dissipation" finds that almost half of the best people to ever push a noun against a verb in newsprint were debilitated by depression, serious anxiety, or bipolar disorder; over a third were titanic drunks, pill-poppers, or opium-addicts; nearly a third were serial philanderers, and a sizable bunch were misogynists, man-eaters, or violent bullies.
And if that's not enough:
Psychologists have shown that neurotics can make good journalists when they project their inner doubts and dissatisfactions onto the world. This is the energy behind investigative reporting and the source of journalism's vaunted distrust of power, the argument goes.
Comments (5)
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From the longer article:
Pete Hamill and Jimmy Breslin answer with a burped, "Hell, yes." For over a decade, the two ex-hard drinkers and legendary newsmen have been saying that print owes its readership woes to a dead corporate air in the newsroom. "Everything's more restrained and we've lost a certain edge," Hamill told the Denver Post in 1995. Meanwhile, Breslin knows what's missing: "It's the drinking." They grouse that today's reporters forgo drinking clubs and bawdy pals in favor of health clubs and quiet homes.
When I was in college at Washington & Lee, Breslin came up to do a lecture. This was in the late 1970s. He demanded first that we take him to a pool, where he exercised. Then he demanded a six-pack of beer, which he proceeded to drink in about 45 minutes in front of us at the fraternity house.
An example to us all...
Posted on April 2, 2007 10:45 AM
Oh - and only the first paragraph is from the article. My comment is the second. Thanks.
Posted on April 2, 2007 10:47 AM
So, you're saying that having an opium addiction is OK ...
Posted on April 2, 2007 4:30 PM
or being called a neurotic journalist is actually a compliment?
Posted on April 2, 2007 10:48 PM
No, no, no -- he's not saying having an opium addiction is OK.
He's saying it's NECESSARY.
But seriously, folks...maybe it's just because I don't work at the NYT or Washington Post but I've gotta say -- I don't know many modern, clean living journalists.
Maybe it's all carrot juice and yoga in the big leagues...
Posted on April 3, 2007 4:03 PM