change.

I’ve heard a few journalists say we shouldn’t worry about changing the world, because we can’t.

Call me a dreamer, a wisher, a magic-bean-buyer, but I don’t want to do anything if I don’t think it’ll change the world (no matter how minute that change may be).

A recent example of a journalist doing his bit to change the world would be Anderson Cooper and his helping an injured Haitian child. (I use this example because majority of people have seen it & because I am slightly biased towards the man himself).

Another example of a journalist changing the world is any writer who takes a story that normally would not be heard and makes it front-page news. They tug at heartstrings, not to sell papers, but to remind humans of the need for humanity. They compose words that take a reader from the comfort of their kitchen and morning coffee to the front lines of a war. A journalist changes the world by making you care. Unfortunately, humans often need to be reminded to care.

If I can make one reader care about a country they couldn’t previously place on a map, then I have changed the world. If I can weave the story of a family living on the streets because their house was foreclosed, I have changed the world. If I can open a reader’s eyes to the world around them, then I have successfully changed the world.

Heck, if I can explain to you how increasing taxes, school violence and political elections influence you – then I’ve changed the world through education.

This might seem like a lofty goal, even pretentious.

Who do I think I am, believing it’s my responsibility to make the world a better place?

Well, love, it’s all of our responsibilities. This is just the only way I know how to do it.

So I will ignore the journalists who say we can’t change the world. It’s often these same journalists who tell us the future of journalism is up to us.

Well, in my future journalism career, I plan to change the world.

(photo above from: http://tinyurl.com/yhxdqw5 <-- go here to read about an interesting journalist).