John Carlin was the godfather of the Graduation ceremony of the third graduating class of International Relations and the twenty-first graduating class of Film and Television, Journalism, Advertising and Public Relations.
In front of the 300 students, in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar in Barcelona, he listed the 10 commandments addressed to them and the profession they would face from that day on:
Source of the article and the photo: https://www.blanquerna.edu/es/fcc/noticias/los-diez-mandamientos-segun-john-carlin
1. Flee from mediocrity: Always bring out the best in yourself. As a journalist, call on one more source even if you have enough, or go over the text and take out the adjectives or read what you have written out loud.
2. Question everything: Be hard on yourself and your own opinions and prejudices. Let life be a learning experience. And it will be if you always go with an open mind. If the facts change, change your opinions.
3. Take a chance: Take a chance, don’t be afraid. Say or write what you think. Orwell, who fought in Catalonia during the Spanish Civil War on the Republican side, said: «If freedom means anything, it is the right to say what people do not want to hear».
4. Be curious: Go through life with your eyes open, with curiosity so that life is a permanent learning process, which will enrich you. Be attentive to details, offer your vision, give added value.
5. Write well: You have to write with grace and originality. You have to surprise. Samuel Johnson said that the purpose of writing was to instruct by delighting, that is, to educate and entertain at the same time.
6. Be honest: Be true to yourself. Hamlet has a speech with advice about life and in the last one he says: first of all be faithful to yourself and don’t betray your values, be honest and value your reputation. Being true to yourself is fundamental both in journalism and in life.
7. Do it better: Think that you can write or work better, never think that you have reached the top. You can never believe it: the day you believe it, you will be finished. You always have to think that you can improve, have a certain point of insecurity.
8. Choose the hard way: When you have to choose between the easy way or the hard way, choose the hard way, the one that presents more challenges. The harder the road, the more worthwhile the final result.
9. Be generous and respectful: The famous Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski said that to be a good journalist you have to be a good person, but this is not true. You have to be a good person to be a good person. Above all, be generous to others and to yourself. The word respect was the key word in Nelson Mandela’s political and personal vocabulary. That is the basis of everything.
10. Be enthusiastic: An English footballer, Stanley Matthews, played in the first division until he was 50. In an interview, he said: «The secret of football, like the secret of life, is enthusiasm». This is the most valuable thing I can tell you. The word enthusiasm sums up everything I’ve told you so far.
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