From Journalism to Ministry - Drebes

David Drebes, 27, turned from a successful start in journalism to full time ministry.  Drebes was editor for Roanoke College's The Brackety-Ack when I was a sophomore reporter in 2003.  By the end of his junior year of college, he had connections, experience, and an internship at The Washington Times listed on his resume.  But instead of launching a career in journalism, Drebes enrolled in Princeton Theological Seminary.

As a trusted friend and my last official editor, I asked Drebes for some candid advice from one who decided against journalism.

"If you like meeting people and digging into the community around you then you'll enjoy it," Drebes stated.

"I liked doing the whole thing," he said, noting that he enjoyed both reporting and editing.  However, Drebes admitted struggling with the financial tasks of being editor of The Brackety-Ack.  "I basically bankrupted the paper," he laughed, stating that he focused on content to the point of running long issues without adequate balance of funding concerns.

Despite his love of the job, ethical issues concerned Drebes.  "I became disillusioned always writing about people who were hurting but not doing anything about it," he reflected.

Drebes warned that daily ethical decisions are difficult to navigate, even noting that his strengths in interviewing also presented struggles.  "It seemed that my softspokeness led people to trust me implicitly so they'd talk too much," Drebes said, noting that sometimes interviewees later got upset at the information he reported.

With this in mind, Drebes advised that everyone take a course in journalism ethics whether or not they get a journalism degree.  But above and beyond this, Drebes also advised finding "an alternative moral advisor" outside the field of journalism to help balance perspectives.

Drebes did not suggest getting a graduate degree in journalism.  He recalled being told to seek a different subject matter in graduate school for depth of knowledge in a particular area rather than general journalistic craft.  More than school or internships, Drebes said what always mattered was writing samples.

"You don't need to wait for permission," he said.  "The trick is to just start."

Drebes acknowledged that journalism is "an industry that's in a lot of trouble right now."  But beyond the commentary of bloggers, "there will always be a need for someone to do the reporting and produce the information," he said.  Thus, Drebes thinks a journalism career today could entail both times of innovation and times of simply "treading water" while the industry restructures but never disappears.

And though on the job market for a ministry position after getting degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary and Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, Drebes does not rule out reporting or editing to some extent in the future.  He now occasionally writes for Lutheran publications.

Despite the ethical and practical struggles of journalism, Drebes respects the field. "For good journalism, your job is to tell the truth," he said, "That's really cool and a positive thing."