A thought about journalism
Sitting behind a desk next to a window with a great view of the Dallas skyline, I feel a little silly identifying with a guy who was hacked and beaten to death in a dark alley in Pakistan.

I still remember when the girl who cut my hair in Orlando, making the obligatory haircut-girl small talk, asked me about my occupation. I gave my usual as-simple-as-possible explanation about how I worked at the newspaper, designing pages and editing stories. "Cool," she said. "Did you ever want to be, like, a journalist?"

Uh, hello, I am a f---ing journalist. That's what I wanted to say. But I knew she wouldn't understand.

Journalism is a lot more involved than the simple pursuit of stories. Despite the fact that I am an editor, I still hold a pretty solid contempt for editors. I do, however, concede the need for editors. I guarantee you, gentle reader, wouldn't want to read our unedited dreck. (Kind of like the stuff you're reading right now, actually. See how bad that would be?)

You're going to hear a lot about Daniel Pearl, because he was a journalist, and so are all the people from whom you're going to hear about him. We journalists are probably a lot more interested in Daniel Pearl than you are. And that's OK, and fully justifiable. He's simply a victim of terrorism just like the people in the airplanes and in the World Trade Center and in the Pentagon on Sept. 11, just like the people who die every day in the Middle East. He's not more special -- nor less so -- because he was a journalist just trying to do his job.

But understand this, too: Despite the incredible flaws of today's media, we are the society that we are largely because of journalism. No other country in the history of the world has been allowed to hold its government more accountable to its people than has the United States. Yes, journalists have abused this privilege. But the next time you hear a story about government malfeasance, listen to it. Understand that the fact that you're getting to listen to it doesn't happen everywhere in the world. The ability for you in your easy chair to do something about it (get the f--- out there and VOTE, for Pete's sake!) is a precious right. The ability to know what's going on in other corners of the world is also precious, and not something shared by everybody else in the world.

You wouldn't be able to fix your government or send help to oppressed peoples around the world if you didn't know about it. That's why I and my co-workers are here.

I hope you appreciate it. And I hope you appreciate what Daniel Pearl and the hundreds of other journalists who have been killed in the line of duty were doing for you, too.