Do you think journalists are good people? Probably not, if you watch TV.

In the media, journalists are portrayed as nosey and rude. Even if they’re asking questions everyone is curious about, most of us are trained to “mind our own business.” Even friends and loved ones who have accompanied me to interviews are shocked.

“Lauren, was it really polite to ask that man how much money he makes?” they say.

Perhaps not. But my job isn’t about being “polite.” It’s about telling the public what it needs to know. If that source had declined my question, I wasn’t going to press him. But as every journalist knows, if you don’t ask the question in the first place, you’ll never get an answer.

The Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics states:

“Recognize that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than do public officials and others who seek power, influence or attention. Only an overriding public need can justify intrusion into anyone’s privacy.”

This is where journalists can get it wrong. It’s up to the individual reporter to decide just what constitutes an “overriding public need” big enough to outweigh a person’s privacy.

A lot of people think that Newsweek didn’t have a good reason to expose Satoshi Nakamoto’s private life, especially when there’s still doubt about whether he’s the real inventor of Bitcoin. Likewise, some people criticized Gawker for unmasking an infamous Reddit troll, compromising his privacy for no other reason than that it was interesting. The gray area comes from not knowing whether “public interest” counts as “public need.”

In my upcoming book, I wrote a whole chapter on ethical journalism, especially in fandom reporting. My hypothesis is that people only notice when we get it wrong, and when they do, they assume we’re trying to get better ratings by publishing lies. This is at the heart of the journalism profession’s slimy reputation.

I’m no angel myself, and my readers rightfully call me out each time I make a mistake. But it’s not that journalists are an especially unethical group. It’s that journalism contains an ethical gray area that few professions do. And each time a journalist begins a new article, sometimes several times a day, she has to reconsider her ethical obligations anew.

Read next:

Corruption, scandal, and fandom journalism

A definition of ethics in fandom journalism

Screenshot of my favorite unethical journalist, Niko Ohno, from Engaged to the Unidentified.

Perhaps years of journalism have made me a skeptic. I didn’t honestly believe otaku journalists could devote themselves to ANY topic they chose. Simply because, through a mixture of priorities and chance, I haven’t made a career out of purely anime journalism.

But I was proven wrong. Again and again. And to be honest? I want my readers to keep telling me I’m wrong, and that otaku journalists can fight the odds to find success in whatever subject they want to report on.

That was why I was happy to hear from Chang last week. A longtime reader from Georgia, Chang told me he’s read “every piece of advice [I’ve] written” on this blog. I’ve actually written about him on the blog before, anonymously, answering one of his questions to me.

This time, however, Chang had a story for me. Or as he put it, “a progress report on how my path as an otaku journalist has been going:”

“I started on this path by applying to a website when I saw an ad that said they were hiring. It was a website I had frequented for years, and would have loved to be a part of. At the time I had ZERO experience as a journalist, much less an otaku journalist. I wasn’t accepted, and that was about 9 months ago.

“So from there, I started applying to different sites to gather experience for the next time I could apply. I worked for about 4 different websites, kept up my blog, wrote a multitude of articles, interviewed an overseas artist, and attended industry and guest panels for the sake of journalism. All of this was to go back to that site one day, and say, “Look at all this experience! How can you not hire me?!” It’s kind of like one of those corny villains that swear revenge when being defeated by the main character. I put in a lot of hard work, and your advice and website definitely gave me encouragement and the knowledge I needed to move on.

“The website I applied to before was hiring just this month, and I applied once again. That time around I had a good feeling. I felt that I put in a lot of effort compared to the other people that may have applied. I applied and got a reply from them within a day.

“They scheduled an interview a couple of days later. My first interview months ago had me as a nervous wreck, but this time around I felt really calm throughout the whole thing, which surprised me). After the interview was done, I thought that I’d have to wait a couple of weeks to get a reply from them. Surprisingly, I got a reply from them within a few hours and was hired! I was really ecstatic because all my effort really paid off!

“After 9 months, I finally got my first paid gig, and I actually got accepted by a website I really admired! During the interview, they seemed surprised by how much experience I gained during the time since I had last applied, and I thought that this must’ve been the deciding factor. Without a doubt, I am really glad I got into this line of work. Though journalism isn’t my major or main career path, I do hope to continue this work. After all, how could I not love writing about my favorite things in the world?”

As one of my favorite teachers, Alexandra Franzen, puts it, making your dreams come true isn’t rocket science. It’s doing what Chang did and working your butt off for them.

It was nothing more than a demonstrated history of hard work that got Chang his first paying gig. It’s not luck. It’s not being somehow “better” than other people. So let me ask you: what are you doing today to make your dreams a reality tomorrow?

Screenshot from Engaged to the Unidentifed of Niko, my current favorite anime journalist. Can’t vouch for her ethics, but I love her spirit!