Journalism is at a low point, but at the same time, it has it easy. Lately, I've been plagued by an imposter feeling: am I as necessary as a doctor or a psychologist? The answer is yes. As a journalist, I bear a lot of responsibility. The world is becoming toxic on many levels—tangible, perceptible levels of surface residues, and intangible levels.
Today, social media is a very unpleasant place. We gradually got used to a growing toxicity, but if we look back and compare, we can be startled. In 2013, there wasn't the hatred that exists now. People simply uploaded pictures of their food or their feet, retweeted a bad joke, and played Candy Crush.
Now, social media has a serious impact on and affects people's mental health. I didn't conduct any studies on it, but I heard it from a young Israeli girl I spoke to at the 100th day of the war demonstration.
On social media, there is a lot of hatred from many sectors towards many people. In this case, for the girl, an excessive hatred towards her country can affect her. Never before have we debated the legitimacy of a country as much as we do now.
Absolutely all countries were created based on errors and pain, like Israel. But we only debate about Israel. And we do it in the place where we used to share pictures of our dinner and our feet, and where we played Candy Crush. We do it through devices that we all carry in our pockets all day. If you stop to think about it, it's frightening.
When I think about these things, as a journalist, I feel more necessary and less like an imposter. I have a lot of responsibility. And I hope that my colleagues in the profession feel something similar.
Comments