I vividly remember my journalism professor tell us undergrads in the early ‘90s that news reporting was the business of alcoholics. Meaning: The profession tends to have a disproportionate number of those who imbibe adult beverages far too often.

What reminded me of this was reading the local weekly (online) yesterday. The editor wrote a stunning piece. It’s a first-hand account of his drunk-driving arrest. The paper placed it on its front cover, and the article is a stunning admission of what happened. As I was reading it, I couldn’t help but wonder how such an open acknowledgement of wrongdoing could feasibly raise the bar for those caught in the act of screwing up.

Too often journalists prey on public figures and their misdoings, real or imagined. Yet when their own hands are caught in the cookie jar, reporter transparency becomes askew. Not in this situation.

I have maintained that trying to prevent wrongdoing can be a futile effort; rather, the act of owning up to misdeeds is more telling of character.

There’s much to be learned from this article. While the moralists will, predictably, pick it apart as if they have never done anything wrong in their own lives, and most surely judgments will be passed, I consider this one of the finer pieces of journalism I’ve read locally in a long, long time.

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