Now, don’t get me wrong. Public Relations is a good thing – I do it. It is a performance art that wraps its arms around an idea and dances with it with a satisfying sense of the sublime rhythm. Stare into PR and it will smile back. It is the cheerful face of capitalism.

But journalism, I said as I rolled up my sleeves, journalism looks at many things, perhaps an audience, perhaps a community, perhaps a democracy, the only thing that is understood is that it is not about the big picture. It doesn’t paint the small picture large or the big picture small. It paints every picture as it is or as it is seen to be – in that moment.

I heard today of some students that dropped out of journalism because they couldn’t see how the profession would change the world. 

Their expectation is not unique. I’ve heard it before. However, the idea that journalism should change the world is as optimistic as it is arrogant.