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As is the case with most professions, Hollywood has done an admirable job of twisting the facts about what exactly a career as a journalist entails. By far, the two most common stereotypes depicted on the silver screen are that of either the heroic, roving reporter or the sleazy ambulance chaser who'll stop at nothing to get the scoop, regardless of who gets hurt along the way. While I enjoyed watching Clark, Lois and good ol' Jimmy Olsen chase the bad guys as much as anyone, I'm afraid we rarely get the opportunity to thwart supervillains, uncover top-secret government plots or expose shape-shifting aliens bent on taking over the world. The fact of the matter is we spend a lot of time rewriting press releases from such wonderful organizations as the local wheat growers association, interviewing great-granny Bertha on how it feels to be 104 and of course the ever-thrilling task of reporting the scores from last weekend's championship dart tournament. While it may sound as though I'm complaining, I'm really not. The Berthas of this world usually have some remarkable stories to tell if you take the time to listen, and the odd positive testing for the use of anabolic steroids makes for an interesting dart tournament. That said, if anyone wants to mistake me for a heroic, roving reporter, I promise I'll try not to object too strenuously. The second stereotype, however, I can do without. While there are definitely some journalists (and I use the term loosely) out there who have no problem benefitting from the suffering of others, as seen during the tragic accident in which Princess Diana lost her life, most people in the profession actually possess a fair degree of human compassion. One of the worst things we have to do is definitely the task of taking pictures at the scene of an accident. Words can't describe how low you feel while performing this seemingly heartless job, and there are almost always a number of people at the scene of any accident who look at you with the utmost disdain that you could be such a heel (of course I'm there doing my job and they're usually there to satisfy their own morbid curiosity, but who am I to judge). The fact is it's our job. We don't like it anymore than a paramedic likes saving the life of a drunk driver who just killed someone or a police officer enjoys protecting a convicted sex offender from a vengeful mob, but it comes with the territory. In the end, though, if taking a picture of a car that landed in the ditch because the road it was travelling on was unsafe helps people realize it has to be fixed, or if a picture of a man who died in cycling accident because he wasn't wearing a helmet convinces someone else to go out and buy one, then I guess maybe it's worth a few harsh looks after all.
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