Columnist Ruthe Deskin: Journalistic destiny and discontent

Ruthe Deskin is assistant to the publisher. Her column appears Thursdays. Reach her at [email protected].

A young friend of mine is entering college this fall. When I asked him what he wanted to be, he acknowledged that he really didn't know. My advice to him was the usual: Get all the required subjects out of the way before making a decision. Some young students are fortunate enough to know early on just what career they intend to pursue. Others need a year or two to explore the possibilities.

But who am I to advise these young people? Journalism wasn't on my list of career possibilities when I was in high school. At that time a much admired and kind minister of our church became the role model for most of the teenagers. He was so dedicated to his profession that he had us convinced it was the way to go. I was helped along in my choice when a lovely young lady came to church to deliver a sermon.

She was a representative of a church headed by a lady evangelist named Aimee McPherson, a Southern California religious leader (until her involvement in a scandal of sorts). I decided to become a foreign missionary. I had been reading Pearl Buck novels and became convinced that China was the land of destiny.

I didn't quite make it to China. I became a journalist instead. Actually, journalists have somewhat the same religious zeal for searching out the truth that a missionary has for saving souls. I entered college and the college newspaper became my training ground. The staff spent many long hours solving the problems of the world. My tendency toward being ultra-liberal was fostered by some of the renegades with whom I associated.

I was one of those who might have been called a do-gooder. I wept for the downtrodden and sneered at the rich and powerful. I was a Democrat when it was much more chic to be a Republican. I had never faced bigotry in any form in my early years. My first experience was with a sorority that "rushed" me but turned its back on my closest friend, who happened to be of a minority group.

As the years have gone by I must admit that I have become much more conservative in my views. I have also become increasingly disillusioned with the media. I deplore the tendency of modern reporters and communicators to go for the jugular, placing dependence on rumors and half-lies. Constant ridiculing of persons seeking or holding high office, or digging into the distant past for the slightest indiscretion is repugnant. The insistent badgering of George W. Bush over the question of whether he did drugs years back is an example.

Isn't it about time we stop dredging up the past and get on with the future? I would like to hear some positive statements about the future of our country rather than constant bickering over someone who didn't go to Vietnam or might have experimented with drugs in the '60s. Those were different times and different circumstances.

I am much more interested in what is going to happen to Social Security, health costs, the homeless, the economy, jobs for the future, educational opportunities for our young people and the destiny of our nation. If the media, especially the television hotshot reporters, would concentrate on questions regarding the welfare of our citizens and our country, perhaps we could get a better handle on who might be the most qualified candidate to lead our country into the new century.

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