If you destroy the credibility of those people or institutions that could undermine your own, you create an opportunity for your voice, however irresponsible or misleading it may be, to gain traction.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I've had more misrepresentations than I can handle, and people have told the wickedest lies about me. A lot of them have taken their frustrations out on me, and I don't like that because it can wound. Not necessarily me, but those around me. Journalists can be so bad.
Credibility is someone else's idea of what I should be doing.
Being given a terrible piece of information shouldn't ruin the interactions you have with the people around you or mean that you can't become something, even if it's not the idea of what you thought you were going to be.
When your voice contradicts reality and truth, the only way to create space for it is to discredit reality and truth.
You have to steer a course between not appalling people, but at the same time not misleading them.
You will find in politics that you are much exposed to the attribution of false motive. Never complain and never explain.
What happens is I speak to people outside of my circle of friends and they have already formed an opinion of me based on the things that people have written. That is the effect of journalism on my life, and sometimes it isn't very pleasant.
There's a nastiness out there that wants to harm me with words. These are my enemies - the ideologues, the populists, the columnists who don't like the fact that I take them on toe-to-toe. What I try to do is tell the truth. It's not the coin of the realm in politics.
There are consequences if you stand up for what you believe. Heck, you might - you might lose your sponsors if you're a talk show host; or if you're running for office, you know, people not give to you or people might not vote for you.
You cannot have the media so close to you that it becomes your voice. This is no good because it becomes too extreme, and people will resent it.