LEONARD GRAY

You don’t have to smoke and drink to have a good time Sunday marks an anniversary for me. It’s the 30th anniversary of my first real newspaper job. Not long ago, a former co-worker from those days gave me a copy of my very first published article and I nearly choked when I saw how I wrote back then. It was a brief, front-page story about a new pharmacist at a Boutte drug store. But 30 years is a long time in this profession. That’s a lot of so-called rubber-chicken dinners, a lot of football games, a lot of government meetings, a lot of police coverage. One might think I’d have gotten tired of it, and there have been instances. For the most part, however, each day is a new adventure, a new learning experience, a new frontier to confront. I like to tell people that journalism is much like education. One must go out and learn all about the subject of the article, then turn around and “teach” the subject to the readers. So, a journalist becomes both student and teacher. On another tack, I’ve always had concerns about the future of journalism ethics. There’s a reason people are often hesitant to talk to reporters. They don’t trust us, and they don’t like us. They see stories like the death of Princess Diana and feel all press photographer are that way. They see unfeeling, inconsiderate television reporters and think all reporters are that way. Unfortunately, there are also a great number of good reporters who feel it is their mission in life to collect “scalps” of people whose lives and careers they have help destroy. I’m sorry. I don’t buy into the scalphunter way of life. I just want to inform, educate and entertain, while treating my subjects in a fair and honest manner. I suppose that makes me a dinosaur, but I’m unapologetic. It’ll probably go on my headstone: “He was a nice guy, and a fair one.” I can go with that. LEONARD GRAY is assistant managing editor of L’Observateur.