Words have power to change everything
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By Shin Yoon-soo
Anyone can see that journalism requires good writing skills, a love for knowledge and an understanding of how the world fits together at all times. This much is obvious.
To gain the whole picture of journalism, however, one must go a layer deeper.
Bravery, danger and confidence are involved in this seemingly ordinary profession.
Indeed, the dangerous and sometimes hard-to-admit truths which journalism brings to us are often written through the fearless eyes of individuals who hope to change the world through words.
I was once told that in order to succeed in the business of news media, we must face the dangers of the real world, the world that we can only imagine from the images we see on the television screen or computer.
I did not understand that until I saw the horrors of what happened in Iraq. Writers in Iraq, innocent people like James Foley, the recently murdered American journalist, who are out to change the world, are soldiers of information just like those military personnel who are fighting in the war zones. They are on the battlefield fighting alongside soldiers, but through words and ideas rather than munitions.
When we lose those people though, we are also losing the words that kept people aware and that kept people thinking so that they will not forget about the terrors we need to overcome in our world. They are soldiers who are lost in a war to preserve journalistic integrity and the unspoken promise that newspapers, news channels and websites make to their viewers.
It takes a lot to be on the frontline and ready to spread word to the world. The weight that you have with your byline on a controversial topic, or a rather dangerous one, is sometimes what might keep you up at night. These people though are also part of our “heroes circle.”
Without their bravery, would we know about what was happening around the world? Would we be able to form opinions about the certainly disputable outcomes of unfortunate events?
Our world is a greater place because of the people who are willing to stand in a position where they are risking their lives to protect civilians of the innocent world. They live with the risk that tomorrow they might be killed if there is an air attack on an army base, or they might be severely criticized by a town, a group of people or even a nation for what they write.
Put value to the words that these heroes write through, they are the ones that sometimes count the most. There are not a lot of people who can wake up every day and write about controversial topics that may be putting their lives in jeopardy.
The world needs these heroes to spread the truth to people and to do the simple, day-to-day acts of bravery in order to lift this world that so often is unaware of the injustice that is committed around the world.
Do not forget that anyone can change the future as long as they are up to it. So, go out and add to the change of this face-paced world. Contribute to the fight and remember that words and knowledge have the power to change everything too.
The writer is in 10th grade at the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut, in the U.S.