Opinion

June 18, 2013  — I can say without hesitation I’ve had a lot of fun working for The Lassen County Times this past year, maybe more fun than I’ve ever had at a job. I got to take a lot of photos and made some new friends along the way.

But things change, and I’m leaving The Times as a staff writer, although I hope to contribute freelance articles from time to time.

I sort of stumbled into this job, and it anchored me at a time I badly needed it. Although I had worked off and on as a journalist for years, this was my first shot at news reporting, and the experience has enriched me.

June 18, 2013 — The nation learned in May that the Justice Department secretly obtained the phone records of more than 100 Associated Press reporters and monitored Fox News reporter James Rosen’s personal email and cell phone records, branding him a “possible co-conspirator” in a classified leak case for asking questions to a government source.

These revelations sent shockwaves throughout newsrooms nationwide. Reporters can no longer assure their sources that interviews will remain confidential because there is no way to tell whether the government is listening. This attack on journalism reaches far beyond hardworking journalists and their sources. Make no mistake:The ultimate victims are the millions of Americans who rely on investigative journalism to inform them about their communities. When the government creates a chilling effect in newsrooms, it keeps important news away from the American public.

June 11, 2013 — My passion for journalism developed in the eighth grade. I always found it odd that I found my supposed calling so early in my life, yet I cannot recall why I initially fell in love with the field. But, now, as a recent college graduate and a reporter for The Lassen County Times, I am eager and a little nervous to begin my new life.

As I embark on my first journey as a reporter, and let’s face it, my first journey as an adult, I look forward to meeting, studying and writing about the community in which I have just recently made my home.

June 11, 2013 — I realize I’m jumping right between the shooters and their targets with a bullseye on my back by writing this piece, but I can’t remain silent any longer.

Everybody knows the very best way to conduct a political campaign against incumbents is to hurl all the criticism you can muster at those in power you seek to replace. I mean, who knows how much of the muck will stick? Just keep piling it up over a period of time, and eventually some people will begin to believe there must be something to all of it, and hopefully that belief will morph into outrage and support at the polls.