I have to go out on a daily basis and weasel information from public officials who would often rather give me the runaround than spit out the whole truth.

I have to deal with police departments that won't release information that the public is entitled to know, and I sit through court cases where everyone who takes the stand seems to be lying.

Like dairy farmers, I am sometimes roused from my sleep to cover stories that occur in the middle of the night. And like enlisted soldiers, sometimes I worry that I'm going to get shot at when I print a truth that no one wants in the paper.

Yes, I finally concluded, this is a rough job and sometimes--especially at government and political meetings--I feel like I am drowning in a pit of liquid manure.

The worst professional job there is!

Finally somebody has recognized the sorry plight of the humble newspaper reporter.

Whoever made that list should have gone one step further. Being a newspaper columnist is even worse than being a newspaper reporter.

When I write an opinion somebody doesn't agree with, they don't want to shoot me; they want to lynch me. And I've got plenty of emails and letters to prove it.

I recently came home to find a voicemail message from a guy raving about what an idiot I was until the tape ran out.

Now that the worst list has come out, I hope you folks feel sorry for us reporters and columnists. We suffer daily to see that the truth (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) gets on your doorstep every single morning.

Like soldiers, we have to carry heavy loads and dodge (verbal) bullets. And like dairy farmers, we sometimes fall into manure pits.

I suppose that's why the guy on the voicemail began his diatribe with, "You really stink!"

Most of what followed is unprintable.

So think kindly of us. The newspaper business is rough. If you don't believe me, I'll show you a picture of myself before I became a reporter.

I had hair then!

Donnie Johnston:
Email: djohnston@freelancestar.com