Since the tender age of five, broadcast news was something I was weirdly attracted to. Sure I loved cartoons (Cartoon Network to be exact) and my Power Rangers but ultimately the news was always interesting. I always wondered why adults around me were so fascinated, adding the usual "That's a damn shame" commentary. Fast forward 17 years later, I am entering my senior year as a multimedia journalism major under the School of Global Journalism & Communication at Morgan State University. I've learned so much about journalism and more, but when I actually tell people what I do at Morgan, I notice I get the same questions...like ALL the time!
So I thought I'd take this time to express how annoying these questions are and maybe, just maybe, people will stop asking me the same damn questions.
1. "So since you're a journalist or whatever, can you interview me about my mixtape?"
No! I'm not Sway, I don't want your Soundcloud link, I'm not putting you on, it's not happening. Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for seeing people succeed, especially brothers and sisters, and I never shy away from a networking opportunity but I have my limits. This shouldn't be the first thing that pops in your mind to ask me when I tell you what I do. I don't do PR, I'm not Olivia Oliver Pope, it's not handled fam. (P.s. don't send me a link after you read this, you're not funny.)
2. "Are you the same thing as a blogger?"
Now this is NO shade at all! (Seriously!) I don't think that journalists and bloggers are the same, there is a difference. There are some bloggers who can actually report the story versus those who sit and repeat what credible news sources have already reported. So when someones asks me if I'm a blogger or try to compare the two, I get a little annoyed. There are some in the blogging community that give all bloggers a bad name and same for journalists. Some journalists take it as disrespect because it feels like you're trying to discredit what we do. But long story short, no, I'm not a blogger and they aren't the same thing.
3. "Can I borrow your credentials to get into _______ event tonight?"
I'm not even gonna touch this one. Next...
4. Oh so you're gonna get on television and get rich and famous, huh? 
Honestly, that's not my goal. I would like to get somewhere in my career where I can reach a larger audience using my platform but the money and the fame is what drives people to do the wrong things. More specifically that's how we end up Fox News anchors and reporters...
5. "Does this mean you're going to sellout now?"
By far, this is one of the most disrespectful questions I've ever been asked. I understand that people often think of journalists as competitive fools who only care about the stories that make money off of advertisements, I understand that but that isn't the case for every journalist. To me, if you're black and you have a place in the media, you're immediately looked at differently. If you don't report on the issues in your community you're a sellout, your looked at as a traitor to your people. That wasn't my reason to pursue a career in journalism, to ignore the issues of underfed communities. I want to tell the right story, being fair and balanced while being the voice of the community.
