Born Again Journalism.

Kim Diamond was someone I used to mentor. 

At 19 years old she manned  the desk at the gym where I worked out. But her dreams were much bigger than the muscles of the men in training. She wanted to be a journalist. She wanted to be the first in her family to go to university. She wanted to  have her own by-line.  At the time I worked at a television station producing  and writing  news and Kim would bring copies of her writing for me to take a look at. 

It was clear she had the talent for crafting a story. If I provided any kind of lift it was only because she so badly wanted to fly.

Fast forward 9 years and 1 facebook message later and here is Kim in an e-mail to me.

"Judette," she writes excitedly, "I just wanted to let you know I landed my first journalism job, and I can't wait to get started. Just to let you know, I am  still have big journalistic dreams, I''m currently studying at  and doing great, topping my class and my writing is just getting better.."

Those of us who are lamenting the death of journalism have been looking in the wrong places. We have pushed aside  the Kims,  we've highlighted the fact that the industry is in free fall and we've ignored the fact that there are brilliant young folks who still view reporting  as a viable career.  

I know first hand  that journalism is a calling. My father said it to me often enough as if to indicate that  the passion had to compensate for the profession''s  notoriously long hours and low pay.  Recently for career reporters,  that same calling has been a traitorous lover. It  has risen up and smacked them hard in the face as they've watched  the business models that supported their craft crumble.

Yes,  journalism is in serious trouble, but while we worry about business models, the future of journalism is being rediscovered. And it is being done by the young hot shots like Kim who are reared in a new technology age that makes the knowledge and the way they hone their craft seem as if they come from an entirely different planet.

"Today's graduates aren't just tech savvy, they''re also well-versed in journalism with a capital J -- authoritative reporting, editing and presenting information for the purpose of advancing the public knowledge. They understand the role that journalism can play in supporting a democracy, they have a firm grasp on the rules of the game and the need for accuracy and authority, and yet they have so many new ways of telling stories," writes Tim Gleason in an editorial about why we should be taking a fresh look at an old profession.

Twittering, face-booking, bookmarking, cross-linking, sharing, optimising are new ways Kim and her peers communicate. "It's an e-world where the power of good, skilled storytelling and the ethical standards of high-quality, fact-based journalism remain at the core of the enterprise, and where the power of the Internet and social media offer new ways to create and share information"

Of course, I shot Kim off an email saying how proud I was of her. And afterward I crossed my fingers and whisered a prayer. I hope that at the newspaper where's she headed they've  adopted innovative  ways to share information, at least enough to keep her interested and employed.