Read on Twitter
I got a really incredible email from a young journalist who heard @LewisPants episode on @SceneOnRadio about Objectivity (based on our podcast, The View from Somewhere) and something she said really needs to be underscored here.
She said that because of her age (early 20s), she sometimes feels like she has no right to question objectivity & The Institution of Journalism™ -- and I think this points to a much larger generational issue in public radio, and probably other newsrooms as well.
Several times during my career in public radio (ages 22-26), older colleagues gave me a hard time because of my age. One of my first shifts on the NPR Newscast desk, one anchor (only 15 years my senior?) refused "to be edited by a 23 year old."
Another editor, while changing all of my work to fit into *her* idea of how a piece should be produced, would deadass say things like "Well I have 30 years of experience so I think I know better."
This attitude towards young journalists is not only straight up gaslighting/abuse, but also makes them feel like they aren't qualified to question larger issues about how power and race operate in white-dominated newsrooms. But here's the secret...
Your youth is EXACTLY WHY you are qualified to question how your newsroom works, question editorial/management practices that are abusive, and all that other shit that makes you feel weird. The stuff that all of your older colleagues have just accepted as "how it is."
When I was that age I spent so many hours grappling with the cognitive dissonance of trying to fit into an institution that is ultimately based in upholding systems of oppression -- and wondering what was wrong with ME that I couldn't reconcile my heart with this reality.
Young ppl and fresh approaches to journalism (or anything really) keep pushing the industry & our society forward. Don't EVER let people make you feel like you don't know the score because of your age. Age does not inherently equal wisdom. Sometimes it means they already gave up.
