Lessons Learned - The first post is always the hardest.

Greetings.

I've been meaning to start up a blog for some time now, but given my length of unemployment and lack of anything interesting to say, there was a slight lack of material to work with.

I could have always fallen for the LiveJournal trap, posting every little inner thought and monologue to an audience of nothing like a shy schoolgirl (or any other maladjusted denizen of the internet, take your pick). After all, there's always that shield of anonymity to protect oneself, right?

That's not really my style. If I'm going to write thoughts up on here or try to connect with readers or viewers or any other audience, I should at least claim those opinions of my own. It's a bit tricky though - How do you voice your opinions while working for a newspaper and still remain impartial?

Many people my age seem to think that every voice and every opinion should be given equal weight and, at times, that opinions held outside of an office environment have no bearing in it. Most supervisors, editors, bosses, and so on essentially laugh at that sentiment and it's something many young people learn the hard way in a time when every post, photo, and thought that is put up for the world to see is scrutinized, brutalized, and analyzed to a point where every thought and emotion can result in being held in contempt.

(Unless, of course, you maintain a strict contact list and even stricter privacy options. Just saying.)

From my experience, people are always ready to give their voice on politics online without hesitation, regardless of the content or the extreme nature of their views. Just scroll through any news website comments section and you'll find a boiling cauldron of racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny, and any other deplorable and disgusting frame of mind. Even without the shroud of anonymity that many users take advantage of across countless sites, people believe that because the internet has given them a voice then every opinion deserves to be heard equally.

For a little experiment, try going to OpenBook.com, a site which searches for words and phrases in Facebook profiles that are publicly viewable, and type in any racial slur. For those unfamiliar with the darker side of the internet, it can be staggering to see just how many results are returned.

(ProTip: Try not to do this on a work computer.)

It seems that many young journalists my age are so ready to voice their political concerns and thrust their point of views at the risk of dangering or outright sabotaging their career. A short search through blogs on here reveal a number of young reporters that seem to think they are safe from any sort of repercussion from posting unfavorable views of political parties, local figures, even their editors and their fellow writers.

I'll refrain from reposting their profiles here as some of them already seem to be using their real names or identities that are relatively easy to deduce.

Restraint is the key here. There are a million ways to voice your opinion to the world and be heard, but to focus on posting like a 12 year old who has just discovered LiveJournal, is, well, stupid.

That little rant aside, as a reporter myself I have to maintain some degree of professionalism when it comes to voicing my opinions and writing my thoughts on here. More often than not I've become sidelined by life or work, but I'm hoping to utilize this blog as yet another means to connect with friends, family, readers, and like-minded people who happen to stumble upon this page. (Which may not be many, just being realistic here.) I'll touch upon my work, add footnotes to articles, other details, and so on. I can focus on my hobbies - reading, writing, gaming, hockey, exercise - and some of the behind the scenes things at the office here.

Oddly enough, I feel I have more time and a better reason for posting consistently on here than when I was unemployed for 9 months. I'm thankful for my job and the work, and with this opening post out of the way I feel like I'm ready to write consistently again outside of an office setting.

The first post is always the hardest.