Gotham Chopra,
This has been an emotional past couple of weeks!
Ever since I saw you on Larry King Live after MJ’s memorial service, I have thought about you!
I put myself in your place and thought, "What if Michael had written me a reference letter?" Last night I finally decided to do something and get involved. I googled and youtubed you! This led me to find your blogs on Intent (which you are actually a founder of.. wow!) I also saw that you were co-founder with Al Gore of CurrentTV. Al Gore represents me in Nashville, TN and I am very proud of him!
In short, I respect you so much. I want to be a journalist, and you have had the career that I would like to emulate. Of course, I hope to do more. But I am inspired by people like you, Lisa Ling, Michael Jackson!!!!, and anyone willing to do whatever it takes to create something new! I deeply respect your journalism career because you were so objective. It must be hard to not get caught up in the sensationalism of mass media these days. Tabloids=junk.. something Michael Jackson taught me. People believe these lies most of the time, and it is terrible. I hope to rid the world of tabloids or at least make it so no one believes their lies.
I saw in an interview on youtube for VirginComics that you said it was hard not to voice your opinions as a journalist (because you need to be objective). You stopped being a journalist because of this. I applaud you! You went into another profession to do this. It is important for us to separate entertainment and journalism. And trust me, I love entertainment. I write songs and play the piano, and I hope to spread joy among all types of people through this just like Michael Jackson. But entertainment and journalism need not be equated. Walter Cronkite’s recent death taught me this. On CNN last night, Sam Donaldsen said, "Back then people presented factual information. Now it’s about opinions. It used to be about giving people information and letting them act on it. Now it’s all changed."
And it still is important for the world to know that it is wrong that genocide is happening in the world ( Michael also taught me this).
Michael Jackson taught me so much, and I believe that he was an angel sent by God. He has given me so much joy that is hard to explain. He has taught me to be a good journalist.
At first I thought, Michael hated journalism. In an MTV interview in Thailand (where I will be studying abroad next spring!), Michael was asked if he ever gets nervous about going on stage? Michael said, "No. Never. I’m more nervous about this interview than going on stage." At first, this led me to believe that Michael hated journalism (for good reasons probably). But I have discovered through you that this is not true. Through your blogs and articles in the Huffington Post, it has become evident that Michael loved you. I see I now know that it is only a certain type of "journalism" that Michael hated: tabloids. I would love to hear more of your stories about Michael. It is the true story of the the man behind the cameras.
It is not enough to complain about something. I must make a change.
Michael wrote in Man in the Mirror"
If you wanna make
the world a better place
take a look at yourself
and then make a change.
I would love to have some of your advice on how to have a successful journalism career. Maybe you even know of some internship opportunities. I am just so inspired by you that I thought I would give it a shot. Or maybe you are looking for the next greatest artist. I would love to send you some of my lyrics.
I wrote this inspired by Michael.
I walk down the street.
Oh.
Hate what I see.
Oh.
Wanna not be.
Wanna just sing.
Look at my reflection.
Look deep inside.
Gonna change the world.
But I need your help.
Ooooh!
Take me to that place.
Where Michael sings and
dances and
oh
walks on the moon.
They won’t get us there.
Let’s go away.
Moonwalk there together.
If nothing else, I wanted to share with you how you have changed my life.
God Bless,
Ellen Larson
P.S. it’s very fitting that the last thing Michael would do is to try to free Laura Ling.
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