Book Excerpt: How To Be A Journalist
Everything you need to know about how to cover local news in your neighborhood.
The following is an excerpt from my book, How to Protect Yourself From Fascists & Weirdos. It will be available next week right here, for free. All you need to do is sign-up for the Stupid Sexy Privacy newsletter to get it. We will also have FREE .MP3 and .PDF editions of the book coming shortly. Both are in production.
The Stupid Sexy Privacy newsletter only updates once a month, and contains new content related to the book. So if you like what you read below, you’ll like the newsletter.
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How To Be A Journalist
There is no such thing as an unbiased journalist or unbiased media outlet. Journalists who follow standards set by organizations like the Associated Press are still choosing how to structure their story, who to quote, and what information to leave out. That, even if done without intention, introduces bias. The so-called “liberal media” outlets are also not factually part of a verifiable conspiracy, unlike their media counterparts on the Right.
In fact, being liberal ourselves, we can tell you that the one thing liberals are terrible at is being organized. We're far more likely to fight with each other over stupid purity tests than plotting the corporate takeover of America. There's another lesson here, which is: We should embrace and even take risks on imperfect messengers—both those who want to serve as journalists and those who want to run for office. And if the imperfect messenger turns out to be an impostor while in office, kick them out when it's time for re-election. Imperfect messengers will always be an improvement over any fascist or weirdo. Because at least then you have a 50/50 chance of the imperfect messenger turning out to be a decent person.
If you’re interested in catching blind spots in coverage from both the left and the right, we recommend Ground News’s Blind Spot Report newsletter. They point out what each side has missed. Although we cringe at the mention of the word “side” when dealing specifically with fascists and weirdos. There is the truth and then there’s fiction. A healthy and functional media ecosystem would call fascism fascism and a lie a lie, but that’s not what we have in America. Instead we have plenty of snowflake fascists upset at being called fascists. And corporate media outlets telling you not to call them fascists, while trying to pretend fascist policies — like indiscriminately rounding people up, denying them their constitutional rights, and holding them in brutal “detention facilities”— are a normal thing for a democracy to do. It’s not.
So, to be clear, the role of a good journalist is to protect your health and safety. That’s how you tell good journalists from bad ones. A good journalist cannot protect you by doing the “both sides” thing with fascists and weirdos. One “side” is actively trying to kill and harm you. The other doesn’t. It’s the Right. To be clear. We have to mention that here because — although anyone with any political point of view can become radicalized and dangerous — both the FBI and DOJ have been clear that right-wing extremism is a threat to democracy. Specifically in the form of white-supremacist violence. We hear the opposite, because a fun game fascists and weirdos play is called DARVO. DARVO stands for Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender. If you’re already nodding your head, we bet you can think of some recent examples of DARVO you’ve encountered. In the wild, you’re most likely to run into DARVO on social media platforms. Pretty much every social media platform at this point is infested with bots, Russian, Chinese, North Korean, Iranian disinformation agents, and home-grown bad faith actors.
For example, if you’ve ever had a “conversation” with someone about the state of America, and their response was to deny, attack, or mumble something about previous presidents being worse, you’ve been DARVO’d. When DARVO doesn’t work, fascist regimes try to overwhelm you with noise using the media. That is one of their hallmarks. They keep you distracted, so that by the time you catch up to what they’re doing, it’s too late to stop them. The corporate media outlets will happily play along and cover the latest controversy. Instead of covering hunger strikes at American concentration camps. That’s why we want you to know what’s happening, understand the story behind the headline, and then move on with your life. Being glued to BlueSky, TikTok, or CBS News doesn’t do anyone any good. (Two of the three are owned by the same oligarch, Larry Ellison.) What will do you some good is to remember to pay attention to what the fascists and weirdos do, versus what they say. This will help you get to the bottom of any story. And when you hear a ridiculous story in the news, ask yourself, “Is this news or is this a distraction?” The odds are good, if it’s coming out of the mouth of fascists and weirdos, or their corporate media enablers, that it’s a distraction.
That’s how the media ecosystem works today. Would you like to help fix that? If so, the following is everything you need to know about how to research, write, and publish a news story. This list is based on BJ Mendelson’s two-decade career as an investigative journalist. If you’d like to solve a specific problem for millions of Americans, right now, try your hand at covering local news within a ten-mile radius of your home. Local news coverage has a known correlation between keeping fascists and weirdos out of office and lowering your property taxes. That’s because the first thing fascists and weirdos like to do in local government is inflate their salaries, give themselves longer terms in office, and give taxpayer money to their friends.
So. Here’s what you should know:
Don’t lie. In life, you are only as good as your word. As a reporter, if you have no word, you have no career.
People will expect miracles from you. Do not promise any miracles.
Everyone’s going to hate you. Everyone. That’s because everyone is your friend until you write about something or someone they like. This happens every time, no matter who you think is your friend. Everyone will eventually turn on you when you’re a journalist. Don’t take it personally. And don’t get into fights with people either. Some of these people may become sources later.
Record all conversations and keep them archived for when, not if, someone wants to claim they were misquoted or taken out of context. Do not—ever—use these recordings for evil. They are only to be used to defend your credibility.
Use silence. Take a long pause after people finish speaking, in case they have more they want to say.
Whenever you conclude your interview, ask your subject who you should speak with next.
Join the National Writers Union. After two years with them, you can get a legit press pass. Until then, make your own. If there’s law enforcement around, always make sure your press pass is visible. Otherwise, only flash it when needed.
Until your audience gets to know you, keep anything you publish capped at 800 words, if written, 500 words if spoken, or about five minutes.
If you’re doing video, there needs to be a cut every six seconds. That can be an edit or a graphic on-screen, or an image, or another video clip. It doesn’t matter. What matters is the cut every six seconds.
Don’t record anything longer than ninety seconds. Not until your audience gets to know you.
How do you know when your audience knows you? When you have more paid subscribers than free subscribers. The paid subscribers will want the longer stuff.
Don’t put anything behind a paywall. People will pay for good journalism that solves a specific problem. Making the news inaccessible creates opportunity for fascists and weirdos to lie without being fact checked.
If you want money from potential subscribers, ask for their money. Don’t just assume they’ll give it to you.
If you’re doing ninety-second videos, every sentence should be written and polished as if it were a headline. In text, every sentence should make people want to read the next. Keep your sentences to no longer than twelve words when possible.
Learn how to read off a teleprompter. It’s not as easy as you think. And people expect you to maintain eye contact with the camera, because on their end, it means you’re looking at them. Always look at the camera.
Talk to at least two sources for every story. Research your sources thoroughly before you speak to them.
If a source doesn’t tell you where or how they got their information, don’t use them as a source.
Anonymous sources are fine. But. There must be a good, specific reason for keeping people anonymous. In our example of local journalism, anonymity is important because small communities know everyone’s business. That makes anonymity important to get the information you need. That said, try to use anonymous sources as little as possible. Always try to get people to speak to you on the record.
Something is only off the record after both parties agree to being off the record. Never assume any conversation is off the record. Ask first, then confirm before saying anything further.
Make it easy for whistleblowers to find you. Use Signal or a P.O. Box. Advise people not to send you mail with a return address to that P.O. Box. Don’t assume people know how to use something like a PGP key. The P.O. Box is the best option for most sources. They can simply print documents and put them in the mail to you with no return address, leaving behind no digital trail.
But remember: The best way to share sensitive information is always in person.
Fact-check every detail before publication. It doesn’t matter how small. As Robert Caro said, “Turn every page.” That means, look under every rock. Look on TikTok. Look at message boards. Look at public records. Look at everything you can find.
Give every person mentioned by name a chance to respond prior to publication. After publication, if written or via audio, say they were reached for comment when that person is mentioned. If in a video, place a note at the end of the video.
Read your work out loud before sharing it with anyone. This is a great way to ensure a good rhythm to your story and catch typos.
Have a good filing system. You will always need random documents you downloaded months earlier and forgot existed. Invest the time to build this now so that you don’t waste time later looking for stuff.
Share your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and other Freedom of Information requests on MuckRock.com. Use all the free resources that MuckRock.com, Bellingcat, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, and the Global Investigative Journalism Network offer.
If you have questions about FOIA, talking to the FOIA officers at most government agencies is a good first step. Many are professional, knowledgeable, and will assist you in finding what you need. Others won’t. In those cases, FOIAAdvisor.com and FOIAMachine.org are useful resources that can help. Don’t expect cooperation from ICE.
If your state has a FOIA-like law—such as New York State’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)—use it as much as possible, and know what to do when someone tries to stop you. Large Language Models (LLMs) can be a good starting point to conduct this kind of research, but they cannot be your only resource for reasons we’ll discuss later.
Once you’ve settled on a publication schedule, stick with it for at least a year to build a habit. No matter the size of the audience. The attention economy is stupid. It’s based on doing and saying stupid things for people’s attention. Attention that they will give you. But only briefly. Then they will move on to the next dumb thing. Meaning, if you want their attention again, you need to say or do louder, dumber things. That’s a trap. Don’t fall into it. Instead, if you want people to really pay attention to you, and pay you, filling a need with consistency and quality over time is how you do it.
If you don’t know where to start, just ask your neighbors what their biggest problems are. You will never, ever, run out of material, and people will thank you for covering their situation.
In terms of distribution, email works best because anyone, anywhere on this planet, can get email regardless of what device they use. If you can, also try for print. Print has a higher rate of recall and is easier to pass on anonymously.
Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Recall our Threat Vector exercise, and if covering something could be dangerous for you, tread carefully. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) 2025 saw a combined 129 reporters killed, with Israel being responsible for two-thirds of those deaths. The CPJ claims that, since they started tracking the targeting and murder of journalists in 1992, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is responsible for more deaths than any other government’s military.
How to Write Amazing Headlines
Before we move on, let’s talk about writing headlines. These tips will help improve the odds that people open and read your story:
Write the headline first.
Keep subject lines to 12 words or less. 6–8 words is better.
Use adjectives.
The number 7 does really well, as do other odd numbers.
Make the headline’s rationale unique. It must answer the question of “Why should I read this right now?”
Make the headline specific (The reader should feel like you’re walking into a conversation they’re already having with themselves.)
Always deliver on what your headline promises.
Use the words What, When, Why, and How
Use words people like, but do so sparingly: tips, reasons, lessons, tricks, ideas, ways, principles, facts, secrets, and strategies.
Now, we’re going to teach you a simple exercise. If you practice, you’ll be able to write headlines that will make people open, read, and share your work. Here’s how it goes: Get a print subscription to The Onion—first, because we all need a laugh right now. These are serious times, but not all your responses to it should be serious. Second, The Onion is really good at writing headlines. Study their headlines for at least a month before trying this exercise.
When you’re ready, set a timer for fifteen minutes once a day, preferably in the morning if you can, when your cognitive load hasn’t been exhausted. (As it turns out, we’re only able to work a good three or four hours before exhausting our brain for the day.) During the first fifteen-minute window, read as many news stories as you can until you find one that stands out. Then study that article. What made it stand out? Write these things down. When the timer expires, reset it. For the next fifteen minutes, write as many Onion-style headlines as you can about that story. This will be hard for the first ninety days. But, the more you do it, the better you will get. This exercise will train you to create amazing headlines. The kind you’ll need when the federal government wants to put a concentration camp next to your mom and dad’s house. That’s what happened to BJ, and why this book missed its original publication date of February 2026.
Want to read the entire book when it’s released next week? Head over here right now.