I’ve been a Catholic all my life—although the nuns at old St. Mary’s Catholic School in Middletown might contest the statement.

I grew up in Middletown as the son of a daily-Mass attending father and devout Methodist mother. Although Dad insisted their four children attend Catholic grade school and Bishop Fenwick High School, our Christian education began in Sunday School at the First United Methodist Church. That’s why, at age five, I appeared in a 1958 photo, Christmas caroling with Methodist youth—which confused the heck out of the nuns teaching my older sisters at St. Mary’s.

My seventh-grade teacher at St. Mary’s, Sara Galeese, said I had a gift for writing and encouraged me, so that before graduating from Fenwick in 1971, I wanted to be a newspaper reporter. I was fortunate to start a career at the Cincinnati Enquirer in June 1975, one week after earning a journalism degree from Ohio University.

That Middletown parochial education not only propelled me into a 50-year career as a professional communicator, it provided a Catholic foundation for when I met and interviewed hundreds of people for stories and columns. Sometimes, the job requires that I meet people on their worst day, after a loved one’s death,
a brush with the law or other disruption to their daily lives. Not everyone wants to deal with an inquisitive reporter, but I know that giving respect and compassion get me further than being a demanding questioner. Some simply call that “professionalism.” For me, it is the very core of who I am: someone who always strives to love my neighbor as myself.

Gratefully, I discovered that my journalistic skills are also asignificant asset as a St. Vincent dePaul Society member at my parish, Sacred Heart Church in Fairfield. It’s a unique ministry. For over 150 years, Vincentians have met those in need in their homes, where we can see some of what they lack—food or a
kitchen table or other furnishings—while listening to their stories. We offer love, hope, dignity, empathy and prayers, in addition to financial assistance for food, rent and utilities.

From my first day as a paid communicator to now, I’ve always been straightforward and honest with people while diligently striving to sort fact from fiction, spin, rumors, disinformation or outright lies to present an impartial, fair and accurate story. Every. Single. Day.

It’s not easy being a journalist today. And I take it personally when some say journalists are the “enemy of the people,” or crooked and biased or the source of “fake news” because they didn’t like our factual reports. I must say that all local print, broadcast or digital reporters I’ve encountered are tirelessly dedicated to being thorough, objective and impartial within the time constraints of their deadlines.

For these stressful times, I find solace and support in the Salesian Guild: an organization formed in 1944 by three Cincinnati newspaper reporters to honor St. Francis de Sales, the patron saint of writers, and to foster fellowship among Catholic communicators in various fields. We meet annually for a Mass, meal and inspirational message. It’s one of my favorite events of the year because my spirits are always buoyed by mingling with hardworking Catholic communicators, compatriots in the fight to present and promote the truth.

John Kieswetter has worked 50 years as a journalist for the Cincinnati Enquirer and, since 2015, for Cincinnati Public Radio’s WVXU-FM and wvxu.org. He’s
the author of Joe Nuxhall: The Old Lefthander-& Me and chair of the 2025 Salesian Guild gathering. He lives in Fairfield with his wife, Sue, a freelance reporter for Butler County’s Journal-News.

This article appeared in the January 2025 edition of The Catholic Telegraph Magazine. For your complimentary subscription, click here.