I think one of the most important components in being successful in any career is to be honest about your worth.
All paying jobs have value which, generally, revolves around improving lives on some level. Whether it’s paving roads, selling T-shirts or washing the windows of skyscrapers, an occupation provides a service that another person wants. For our efforts we receive financial compensation, but for many there is also a personal satisfaction as well. The most fulfilling occupations are those in which the person truly believes in the value of the product or service they provide.
But we need to be a little careful not to overcook it.
I was reminded of this recently when watching a television reporter in Orlando covering the murders committed by Keith Melvin Moses. He had shot a woman during the day, then returned to the scene later, shooting at a reporter and cameraman covering the incident before running into a nearby home and shooting a mother and daughter. The reporter and the 9-year-old girl died of their wounds, while the mother and cameraman survived.
A reporter for an NBC affiliate in Orlando was at the hospital covering the aftermath. She had been interacting with the slain reporter’s fiancée off camera and was visibly emotional when she began her live shot.
“But I will say this, it is nice to see all the media, we come together in solidarity in this moment,” she said, her voice trembling and eyes red from tears.
This was compelling. I completely understand becoming overcome with emotion covering a tragic story, especially if you knew the victim.
But then she overshot the runway.
“This is every reporter’s absolutely worst nightmare,” she said. “We go home at night afraid that something like this will occur.”
Nope. That’s not this job.
Outside of war correspondents (those guys are nuts), journalists don’t have a particularly dangerous job. There was the famous Capital Gazette shootings in Annapolis, Maryland, in which five employees were killed by a man upset about a story, but such incidents are outliers. I should also say that I’m talking about journalists working in America. The safety of reporters in other countries isn’t guaranteed.
Outside of covering something like a riot, we generally show up after the danger subsides. Reporters arrive when the shooting stops or after the building collapses.
Now to be sure, there are times when people aren’t happy with what we cover. I have been confronted by angry people at restaurants. I even had an office visit from an angry defendant in a court case who told me years later that he had been drinking that day and came to the newspaper specifically to punch me, but ultimately thought better of it.
So people sometimes get upset at reporters, big deal. People get upset at workers in a variety of operations that aren’t considered particularly dangerous occupations. People get upset at attorneys all the time, but Bar Associations meetings don’t conclude with “stay safe out there.” If having a job that draws the ire of the public is a reason to fear dying on the job, then fast food workers and airline representatives should have bulletproof vests.
I recently looked up the most dangerous professions in the United States and it was eye opening. When people think of dangerous occupations they immediately go to police officers and firefighters, but in reality those jobs aren’t in the top 20. I think the risk of injury for those careers is probably high, but in terms of jobs with most work-related deaths the list is surprising.
Based on figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the year 2018, logging workers topped the list with a yearly average of 111 fatal injuries per 100,000 workers. Aircraft pilots were number two, with the majority of the deaths being from privately owned planes and helicopters, rather than commercial aircraft.
Oil, gas and mining derrick operators were third, but three of the next four slots were filled with very common occupations – roofers, garbage collectors and delivery drivers. Not exactly jobs people consider at ultra dangerous, but the numbers tell a different story.
Also in the top 10 were farmers and power linemen, both clearly surrounded by under-appreciated peril.
Other interesting occupations found among the 20 most deadly were crossing guards, construction workers, landscaping supervisors, highway workers, cement masons and mechanics. Also, checking in at number 19 most dangerous jobs was supervisor of mechanics, with the most common cause of fatal accidents being violence by people.
Nowhere on the list is journalist. We shouldn’t act like it’s a dangerous job. It has importance for sure, but there isn’t an inherent risk to our lives when we grab our reporter’s notebook. While what happened in Orlando is shocking and a tragedy, I do not “go home at night afraid something like this will occur.”
Based on responses from the other reporters in my newsroom, covering long meetings is “every reporter’s worst nightmare,” rather than murder on the job.
-Chad Williamson is the managing editor for the Journal-Tribune.