When you are
a brand new journalist; the world is divided into two
categories – the ones with by-lines and the rest.
It is a
different life, very different. The world is your oyster and you are always
going for the jugular. Why?…well, because you think what you write is possible
history, probable immortality, and definite fame.
It will be
some time before the novice journo learns that the flashing, glowing by-line
under the headline is often missed by most readers (who are more interested in the
celebrity than the chronicler). It will be after some uneventful pint-sized by-lines later that the journo will realise his/her
insignificance in the scheme of print.
However big
you get, you are still smaller than your subject. Unless, of course, you become
the subject – a revered columnist or a celebrated editor – popping on TV panels
and posing in print. But for the vast majority of pen-pushers (or rather, keyboard bangers) it is just a profession that pays the bills.
