The public editor of the Orlando Sentinel, Manning Pynn, is retiring. In his final column Sunday he wrote this in regard to journalism:

There's something about providing people with information and opinions they can use to better themselves, protect themselves -- even amuse themselves -- that strikes me as time well-spent.

Journalism isn't done in exchange for money. No promise of advertising revenue can generate coverage. No threat to withdraw advertising revenue can prevent it. News is judged on its own merits.

That makes it hard to control and frustrating for those who would like to do so. It also induces those who fear being exposed to attack journalists as unreliable, at best, and conspiratorial, at worst.

There is no denying that journalists sometimes are unreliable. They do make errors, largely because that's what happens when human beings work under extreme time constraints. But those errors involve a minuscule percentage of the information the Sentinel publishes, and they are corrected.

Conspiracy theorists should come in and observe the process. (Yes, you can do that.) Most who have done so have been more impressed by the ability to bring order from chaos than any perceived plots to mold thought.

| Read the full column here |

These words struck me and reminded why I’ve been working so hard to get into this business, a business that many people disdain you for the better you are at it. It motivated me to believe in it again, despite the critics, and reminded me why I’ve been doing this since high school.

And with that motivation I applied for jobs at two different, big-time papers. I think I’ve got the chops, but only time will tell. In April I will start the 25-city gauntlet of job applications.

Here’s to the future!