Journalists Have A Responsibility to Speak For 'Regular People' & Challenge Power

It’s hard to believe it’s been almost 3 years since I first decided to write out my thoughts into a Word document for my future book.

The original reason I decided to start writing was because I felt like my voice, and people who sound like me, were being ignored. The new normal wasn’t just about COVID but how we discussed race as well. Suddenly, everyone was supposed to believe statistical falsehoods and grab a hold of fear narratives that didn’t make sense.

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So people understand, I never took writing classes and I have no background in writing other than posts on car forums. I don’t even have a college degree because I went to Tech School.

But one thing I am is analytical and I know how to connect with people. I’ve been highly interested in psychology for a number of years, partly to understand myself but also other people.

Lots of IT guys are analytical but they don’t know how to talk to people. While my demeanor is initially quiet, it’s because I’m observing and not necessarily because I’m shy. You learn more by listening than by talking.

I spent most of my life listening and avoided talking partly because I didn’t think people cared about what I had to say or that it wasn’t important enough to discuss anyway. But 2020 changed everything for me: I felt like I needed to talk.

When I started getting opportunities to write for publications, I saw it as a great opportunity to express myself on a bigger platform. It was more of a self-expression exercise and if people liked what I had to say, even better!

However, after writing for the NY Post frequently, that concept of writing just for me changed slightly.

When you write for bigger publications, you often get random E-Mails and DMs (Direct Messages) from people who read your article. I would get messages from people telling me their personal stories about what I wrote. I’ve had people tell me that my article made them cry because it touched an emotional nerve with them.

I’ve received countless DMs from people who tell me about their abuse and neglect as children when I write an article discussing the importance of healthy fathers and the nuclear family.

I soon realized I’m writing more than for me but also for people who don’t have a platform to air out their grievances. Even more so, I’m writing for the everyday American who does their best to take care of themselves and their family and isn’t politically radical.

I’m in a position to criticize the most powerful people in America and they might actually read it. So many of us are tired of politicians who do nothing to benefit us, the regular people, meanwhile they siphon money from the taxpayers to give it to foreign conflicts & special interest organizations. They’ll gladly have lunch with corporate lobbyists but all you’ll get is a staffer phone call.

They’ll lock you down in your house while they go to wineries with their buddies like Gavin Newsom did during the pandemic. It’s become more & more apparent to me, and many of you, that our politicians are not only elitists but unabashed elitists who are so unaware that the mask has slipped down and we can see who they really are.

The piece I wrote about Cuomo dodging accountability isn’t about going after a Democrat, it was about using my voice to say on a platform like the NY Post what others who are personally affected by his decisions would want to say.

In a recent “Letters to the Editor” section from the NY Post, many expressed how they agreed with my article and even how Cuomo’s decisions personally affected loved ones.

“One of his victims was my aunt, who lived in a facility in Staten Island. She wasn’t sick, just old. She had no recourse to get [out] of there alive and died of COVID, alone, with family barred from going to see her.” - Susan Kerr / Stony Brook

Words like this tell me that when I write, it’s bigger than me. We as writers and commentators have the right to express ourselves but we don’t talk enough about our responsibility to use our words to do what’s right.

If Cuomo was a Republican, I would have still written that article because it’s about right and wrong and too many people have become so ridiculously tribal that they’ve lost sight of this.

The reason the first amendment matters is that it’s our one solid recourse to checking power. It’s why in history, the first thing a dictator does is restrict speech and the press because words challenge their authority.

Our politicians are supposed to work for us, not the other way around, and our journalists are supposed to challenge the most powerful, not have gaudy dinners with them.

My evolution has been about paying it forward to others and representing the people who are underrepresented. It’s about doing what is moral, not what is convenient.

It’s why I challenge Republicans and Democrats and I choose no side because morality has no political party.

As I’ve been reminded multiple times, I am a journalist now, and it’s no longer just about me anymore: it’s about everyone.