The person addressing us about the wonderful changes ahead in our organization had better be a mesmerizing speaker, with facts to back up claims, or we don't buy it. Our built-in bull detectors are hypersensitive, although sometimes they register false positives. We like to think that by finding these conflicts, we can keep status quo. It rarely works. Journalists are mouthy, contentious debaters, who love a good argument.
Journalists are insecure.
We often doubt our own talents. We don't make tangible things like cabinets, don't win big cases in courtrooms, don't heal sick people. We work with words. We tell tales. We're only as good as our last big story, exclusive, award, or ratings spike.