Telling The Story

The following podcast episode made me uncomfortable. I communicate for a living, and my trade is words. I stare frequently at blank cursors on my computer screen because I haven't found the exact word to properly convey an adjective, identifier, or emotion. I wade into controversial waters with caution, because I know how certain words can be interpreted in unintended ways. So when I invited Noelle Walker, an extraordinary and accoladed reporter for KXAS-TV in Dallas/Fort Worth, to discuss life as a woman in journalism in 2018, I knew it would require her to be vulnerable - and for me to join her. I would need to challenge my own assumptions and choices, including with words. I would need to accept the ways in which I might be a part of the problem. I would need to avoid presuming to already understand what the problem might be. I would need to worry less about saying the wrong thing or using the wrong word and worry more about keeping my mouth shut and listening. I would need to live in the uncomfortable. Bu