Dallas. I’m sitting outside. It is hot and humid with a slight breeze that is more slight than breeze. I’m British. I’m sweating. I’m a little uncomfortable. Why am I doing this?

Journalism. Pure and simple.

I’m outside because I can’t bring myself to be inside. There is a couple in there who are  having a ‘discussion’. They are debating from opposing political ideologies. They both believe, strongly, that they have the facts. They are both confusing facts with an interpretation of events, real and/or imagined.

And who provided that interpretation? A journalist.

The couple I mentioned get their news from different places, of course. They choose them because the information presented is comfortable. It reassures them that they voted correctly. The digs made against the other side are always proof of this.

So what I’m saying is, Lets get rid of this notion that someone goes to J-school and exits as an incorruptible, truth-seeking, unbiased knight in shining amour. Actually, perhaps they do. But then they get a boss.

Let’s be honest. A news outlet does not employ people who are not ‘on board’. Fox News does not employ bleeding-heart liberals, socialists, or communists. That is just the way it is. I don’t mind.

I do mind when people start demonstrating or otherwise taking action based on inaccurate information. This is no different than yelling “Fire!” in a cinema.

I’m one of those people who leans in one direction more than the other depending on the issue. Fox News should be renamed the Comedy Channel. I like Bill Maher. I like Jon Stewart. I understand, and accept, that there are different  information outlets for different people.

I don’t believe that there is one place or person in the whole world who does not have some particular bias. I inherently do not trust anyone who doesn’t get their information from more than one source. I think the BBC comes as close to impartial as you can possibly get.

To a lot of people the local newspaper is a reporting of the facts. They may think this because there is only one, in most cases, and thus no comparison. Or one ‘rea'l’ newspaper and a free ‘liberal’-rag. I remember when we had two main daily newspapers in Houston. You bought the one that interpreted the facts to your liking. And the journalists who worked for each had the appropriate leaning. Or put their journalistic ‘integrity’ to one side for the pay check.

So, is the view that a journalist is an independent seeker of truth something from the 50s? I don’t blame the journalist. As the owners/employers want more control over the output, for whatever reason, the unbiased truth will suffer.

For a while now I have been wondering about the value of a J-school education. It seems to me that some majors are more suitable for trade-school than a ‘university’. When I was growing up in the UK, journalism was considered a trade. Sure, there were super-stars, but by-and-large it was a trade.

So what is a journalist? Is anyone with a blog a journalist? I don’t think so.

Should newspapers be non-profit 501[c]3 organizations? I think they should.

We need investigative reporting. We don’t need owners pandering to a specific audience (by politics or sales volume).

But J-school? I say, Bring back the apprenticeship.