THE BOOK OF THE VIP
ED
Charlie peers into the futureTV journalists become stars
Chapter 11
For example, you can’t possibly imagine how much you’ve already done to shape the future of journalism.
2bYour little attack on the witch-hunter was incredibly important,
3No matter how it seems to you,
4Because from now on,
5People will feel different about journalists.
6Before you did your thing,
7People always thought journalists were something kind of low,
8And grubby,
9And unscrupulous.
10They thought journalists were something they wouldn’t want in their house,
11Since no decent human being can ever be a journalist,
12At least not a good journalist,
13Because no decent human being could ever bring himself to ask questions of a mother grieving over her children’s brand new graves,
14Or wedge his foot inside a door where it wasn’t wanted,
15Or sensationalize hideous crimes for the sake of selling newspapers,
16Or dig through someone’s trash to find an angle on a story,
17Or any of hundreds of things that journalists have always had to do.
18But thanks to you,
19Those days are over,
20And journalism is entering a new age,
21Of power and prestige and immense respect,
22And did I mention power?
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Chapter 11 / 78