I graduated in 1981 with an Associates Degree in Journalism. Back then the instructors still pounded into us the idea we were the watchdog of government and that we had to be objective and fair above all else. My short foray into the field proved the real world to be a much different place then college. I found even the small town papers to be agenda driven and far from fair or objective. Disheartened, I left the field shortly after college and other than a few odd free lance pieces and a couple years as a volunteer editor of a quarterly newsletter, have not worked in the field.
I bounced around in a few interesting jobs before I ended up in corrections, chosen mostly for the pay and benefits. After some major surgery for my wife with marginal insurance left us with a huge copay bill, I quit chasing rainbows and settled into a career.
Though it was several years after I left journalism before I entered corrections I was frequently asked how I got from journalism to corrections. I always said working with inmates gave me a chance to work with a better class of people than what I found in the field of journalism. Journalists don't seem to find that near as funny as I do.
