Politico’s John Harris on Why Someone Would Want to go into Journalism

I’m honored to join in the discussion for the 100th Politico Question of the Week. For all that this series has tackled changes in our business — in technology, in the competitive landscape — it strikes me that we should engage with our profession’s eternal question: Why would someone go into journalism?

For those of us in the newsroom, this question, or its subsidiary — “Why should someone stay in journalism?” — is at the core of everything. As a practical matter, though, we hardly spend time with it. Editors are always answering why someone should come to Politico, or in this era of fierce competition for talent, why he or she should stay. That’s different than the fundamental choice of why this career in the first place.

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