What the heck is journalism?

I thought journalism was well positioned words arranged into a sentence -- sometimes it makes sense, sometimes it doesn't, always it follows a set of rules invented by some grammarian who nobody knows (why does he/she get to tell us the rules?). And whether or not your words can be received depends on whether or not the sentence makes sense, after all what is a word after a word after a word anyway? Who really knows what words mean.

I thought journalism was supposed to deliver messsages, urgent news that could affect the rest of your life. When does anybody even care? Who even cares? And when?

What the heck is journalism other than a J followed by an O followed by a U an R-N-A-L-I-S-M? What the heck is a J? Aren't i supposed to find out? I'm the journalist.

I thought journalism was supposed to answer questions.

I thought journalism was a job, a career, a mode of employment -- how many words does our language need to describe one thing? Why do we describe, explain, reiterate what we're talking about? Don't we already know what we're talking about?

I thought journalism was a word, a series of letters connected together, a symbol.

I thought journalism was an action, a series of doings to make something happen, the researching, the asking, the writing, the delivering of a message.

I thought journalism was a sound, a series of tongue clicks-clacks-smacks against the teeth and ruby pink gums.

I thought journalism was a way to explore, an excuse to find out lifes secrets, a reason to probe and gossip, the revealing of the ugly hidden truth, a way to bring light to issues that've been shunned, pushed aside, ignored, trampled on, the love and passion of a writer who is only trying to put those little symbols from the alphabet together so you the reader/listener/viewer can get the message.

I thought journalism was an offering of trust amongst readers/listeners/viewers that you, the person in control, know what you're talking about and have prepared yourself well. The only question left is: who is listening?

I thought journalists were supposed to provide facts, so then what is this?

(Photo from getreligion.org)