I had the opposite path! I’m a vegan, anti-capitalist thrift store shopper, and I got a degree in journalism. The professors told us that, in order to be/appear objective, we couldn’t be activists. I had just attended the first animal activism group meeting of the year, and my professor told me I could not attend any more. I wrote for the college paper, and of course I wanted to write about what I was passionate about. I went to a circus and covered the protests there, also interviewed the elephant trainer and families attending (got all sides). The paper published it, but with a stern warning that they had heard that I was vegan, so I better stop writing about animal activism.

I love Medium because I can write anything, and I don’t have to pretend that it’s even possible to be fully objective. We all have points of view, and our topic choices are informed by those views.

I didn’t like the journalism school approach, because if people don’t write about the important issues they’re passionate about, then who will?

Thought-provoking piece. Thank you!