HOPE

HOPING AGAINST HOPE THAT YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CAN’T HIDE
WARNINGS FROM PAST PROPHETS
THE HUTCHINS COMMISSION AND A RESPONSIBLE PRESS
COMMITTEE OF CONCERNED JOURNALISTS
TIME TO SEPARATE AND RETRAIN YOURSELF
THE DANGER OF YOUR INACTION
THE TYRANNY OF CHOICE
A CHRISTIAN DEFENSE OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT
PERSEVERE
YOUR OPPORTUNITY IS KNOCKING LOUDLY
THERE IS HOPE

YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CAN’T HIDE

Many of us know the story of Jonah and how the whale swallowed him. But not many of us know what he did to get himself into such a predicament. You see, Jonah was running—running away from his responsibility. Jonah was a prophet. God had told him to go and preach to Nineveh, an enemy of Israel whose cruel treatment of captives was legendary. Jonah didn’t want to go because he knew if the Ninevites repented that God would show mercy on them. Jonah didn’t want God to spare this notoriously cruel people. Jonah put his country before his God and refused to represent Him in Nineveh. Instead of going five hundred miles northeast to Nineveh, Jonah attempts to go two thousand miles west to Tarshish (Spain). In the well-known biblical story that follows, God uses a creative series of counter-measures—the most notorious one being swallowed by a great fish—to persuade Jonah to finally go to Nineveh. Upon hearing Jonah preach, the city repented of their evil ways and God spared them His wrath. In the end, Jonah’s efforts to thwart God’s plan were futile.[i]

The most amazing thing about Jonah’s preaching was the simplicity of his message. He walked through the streets of Nineveh with a one-sentence sermon: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.” For whatever reason, the words struck at the heart of the Ninevites. They changed and God relented, sparing the city from the wrath of God.[ii]

The gospel of journalism is simple, but it’s not easy. How many of us journalists are like Jonah—prophets who are afraid to speak up and more apt to run from confrontation? How many of us would rather turn and run from our responsibility than to face up to our duty to preach the gospel of journalism? How many of us are afraid? How many of us use words every day yet do not believe in the power of our own words and actions to change our own industry? How many of us have so little faith in journalism that we do not speak of its ideals? I believe if deep down inside you are true journalist, you can’t run from your responsibility. You can’t hide from your responsibility to journalism. Journalism and the knowledge you’ve gained so far in this book will be the big fish that convinces you it’s time to turn back and give it your best shot. There is a lot at stake.