I ad-mit, I did not major in journalism, writing or English in college.

Nor did I intend to pursue a career in journalism.

If you don't believe me, just ask the two editors I work for.

Yet, I have come to enjoy what I do. I have, in many ways, developed a love of telling stories and reporting those stories to the public.

Every little tidbit I have learned about journalism and reporting has been on the job. I have been fortunate to have learned from and worked for highly competent and patient editors who either have the academic background in the trade or on-the-job training themselves.

Lately, I can't help but wonder what has happened to the journalism of yesterday.

I remember as a young child, sitting in front of the TV, watching the evening news with my grandparents. I also recall my grandmother circling or noting in pen certain stories in the daily newspaper and my anxiously reading those stories myself.

Where has the good, old fashioned journalism of the past gone? Why have reporters – both print and TV – become so obsessed with getting "the story" out quickly, replacing fact with fiction?

And, why have so many journalists become obsessed with their name and their story rather than the story they are reporting on?

I have learned firsthand of the duty and obligation I have to listen carefully to what is occurring in individual communities and report on events and meetings in an unbiased fashion.

It's a duty and obligation I take seriously.

What I write and is published not only reflects on the individual person or persons and community, but most importantly, on my reputation.

Just recently NBC Nightly News TV anchor Brian Williams admitted he replaced fact with fiction regarding being on a helicopter in 2003 that took fire in Iraq.

He said he embellished the story to "thank one special veteran," U.S. Army Command Sgt. Tim Terpak, who helped protect the actual downed aircraft as well as the aircraft Williams was traveling in.

Because of this embellishment, Williams' reputation has taken a huge blow. His exaggeration also seems to have affected the journalism profession, as a whole.

Within the last week, we also learned of the deaths of CBS News correspondent Bob Simon and New York Times media writer David Carr. Both journalists have been highly regarded in the profession.

They were the kind of journalists that the typical journalist should aspire to emulate.

What is the difference between a Williams and Simon and Carr?

The answer is simple: a sense of duty to the community and to the truth, rather than to self.

Journalists should and must be held to a higher standard because of the trust the community places in them to report and deliver the truth.

We, as stewards of the truth, are required to investigate and separate fact from fiction.

It's not about us or our personal agenda, but rather about you, the community.

According to CBS News Producer and Reporter Christina Ruffini, Simon was a journalist who knew when to sit back and listen and when to allow the pictures to tell the story.

"More and more, we are losing the Bob Simon brand of journalist," Ruffini wrote. "We are losing the men and women who put the premium on the story and not of themselves."

In today's fast-paced and social media driven world, it is easy to see how the good journalists of the past are disappearing.

Getting the story out quickly and in short form is common practice today. If the journalist isn't careful, he or she may become the center of attention. Rather than sit back and listen, they take the front seat.

A good journalist – whether one reporting for a weekly, community newspaper or national paper or TV network – should be someone who accurately and factually delivers the words spoken and the story told by another.

Those words and stories do not belong to the journalist themselves, but to the community.

And, the story is not the story of the journalist, but rather the story of the community.

Despite Williams' recent fall, I hope the journalists of today can begin to take on the form of those of yesterday.

I also hope I remain in the background listening, rather than speaking.

Let's make the art of journalism and reporting less about us, and more about you, the community.

Mark Reccek

editorial assistant

Whitehall-Coplay Press

Northampton Press

Catasauqua Press