“Law students are trying to do math and it hurts,” my friend groaned not long ago, evaluating papers.

As in education, it has been interesting to observe seismic shifts in many types of professional roles in recent months, particularly in the areas of politics and journalism, although, especially as someone who proposed structural change in order to help prevent a possible devolution of the journalism industry away from reporting and investigation and toward opinion advertisement, I still believe the accelerating tendency of broadcasters to opine should be considered skeptically.

I believe, many times, conjectures shared by journalists are absolutely valid, helpful and generally genuinely held. But opinion-sharing is arguably not journalism. As media outlets increasingly answer the call to cover matters relating to human equality, which they should, this must be with an eye towards learning and problem-solving – not a process of cherry-picking stories that advance media outlets’ own business goals principally. To the degree that what could be called for-profit and for-power media outlets hinder traditional American journalism from operating, I wonder whether we are left with too little illumination to effectively problem-solve using all of the resources, or, all of the perspectives, at our disposal.

But what is to be done?

As I have written before, I continue to believe that an answer may be found in better separating the functions of the journalistic and academic sectors. As journalists seem to have attempted to usurp the roles of academics, it would appear they are making a dangerous bet that someone will step in and take up their abandoned roles. Or, worse, that no one will.

But, to avoid the darkness such a scenario would precipitate, might not an optimal relationship between the academic and journalistic sectors be one of counter-balance rather than merger?

On Tuning In

I believe that at this time it is essential for every person to spend time unplugging and, simply, listening to their own hearts – be that through meditation, art-making, sport, or relationship-building – rendering themselves less impressionable in an online arena increasingly flooded by advertisement and opinion.

One reason, it at least seems, that a vulnerability to absurd conspiracy theories – on both sides of the political aisle – has abounded in recent years appears to be that people can feel in their hearts that something is missing in their informational diets – but do not know what.

I believe that the more that we all process information with both mind and heart, tuning out advertising and marketing forces, the more we can make progress identifying and using what we need and leaving the rest. Journalism should arguably speak for itself and not require slogans like “hear every voice.” Or, more forebodingly, “democracy dies in darkness.”

That news organizations have begun to solicit ideas for how to improve engagement feels ludicrous.

On Lamps

It is encouraging that the world is waking up to the fact that it’s impossible to tell all about another person’s strengths, talents, and heart just by looking at him or her, even under a microscope. (It almost seems as though God is increasingly putting various gifts & qualities in more and more surprising packages just to keep us all on our toes.)

But that doesn’t mean, particularly once and as these invisible gifts and hearts are discovered and developed, we do not have different roles. When individuals are prevented either from developing, or from sharing, their gifts we all lose. At such times, I believe it’s arguable we need what most everyone needs during a blackout – generators. Individual gifts light up the world, and I continue to believe independent educational settings are potentially the most helpful places where they can be protected and amplified.

Until then, I believe it is possible to adapt to low-light conditions in living and working productively in whatever setting within which we are situated. Thank God, some were born ready.