Guildenstern

We just listened to a blogger talk about his experiences.  During the question and answer session that followed, a few topics came up that I feel are very important.

When asked about the definition of journalism, our speaker felt content to vaguely define it as , basically, anything having to do with gathering or sharing information.  This definition of journalism is not only unhelpful, it is harmful.   In our nation, the people require detailed and accurate information concerning the current political situation, so that they can make informed decisions regarding our government.  Someone must be tasked with providing this.  Until the sudden onset of the Internet driven information age, this has been the domain of journalists.  If they now consider their job to gather and share information about anything they want to, someone else will have to step up to the plate and provide accurate, relevant news.  I do not know what group of people, what demohraphic, what organization or organization of organizations will provide this; but someone must.

In the next few minutes, I will be uploading quite a few posts.  No, these ideas are not all coming to me at once; I am not sitting here typing them up at 100 wpm.  Over the past few days, the only digital device which I had access to was a Blackberry,  and I was able to write and edit posts but not, for some reason which I still do not completely understand,  post them.

So, yeah.

Innocent until proven guilty. Alongside other such mantras, such as freedom of speech, this rule has, for more than two hundred years, governed how our nation functions, from the most mundane matter imaginable to rulings in the highest courts. Innocent until proven guilty. This means that every citizen of the United States is given the right to be trusted, and this trust is assumed to be valid and whole until it is proved otherwise beyond any reasonable doubt.

Why, then does this seemingly God-given right not exist for those under the age of eighteen? At this moment, I am on the campus of George Mason University; I am here to participate in a youth conference regarding journalism. Most of my group is around sixteen years of age. Last night, we were told a set of rules that we were to obey while on campus. These rules, taken by themselves, are set down for noble and decent purposes; they involve the prohibition of lewd or inappropriate behavior. However, the means and actions, and the set of prohibitions, by which these rules are enforced is dishonorable and unacceptable. None of us is allowed to venture outside of our dormitories, or even our rooms, after the hour of eleven. To ensure that we do not break this inane regulation, video cameras are trained on our doors, and pieces of tape are stuck to the door-frame and the door, so that if we leave our rooms at any point after eleven, there will be additional evidence.   If we are found outside of our rooms for any reason, it is assumed that we have carried out some serious misdeed, and will be immediately sent home in the most expensive manner possible, without a refund. Because we are young, we will be assumed guilty until proven innocent.

Does America truly mistrust it’s young adults this much? Because, let me tell you – there is no magic button, no metamorphosis, no sudden and drastic change that will take place on our eighteenth birthdays. The same people that you think you have to lock up in small rooms after nightfall to stop them from running wild, these people will be the leaders of the future; we will be your mayors, your governors, and your senators. Extend to us, extend to all young adults, the rights that you so highly prize. At least give us the chance to prove ourselves trustworthy before you assume that we’re not.