Should journalists be able to discuss news pieces they have covered for a publication as biased and opinionated individuals within the safe confines of their blog?
I honestly feel as though I am completely torn on this subject. I want to shout about free speech and how people are entitled to their opinions, as I have in the past. But the truth of the matter is journalism works as a form of communication because it is supposed to convey information with no bias attached.
Though on the other hand the fact that the unbiased look is available at all makes me want to say that journalists should be allowed to express themselves as individuals in a blog. It’s a very tricky question.
Here is what I just came up with.
By a news organization requiring that its reporters have blogs, they are creating a forum for discussion. They are not only inviting, but requiring that their writers and reporters have a place to write what they feel and know. A blog is not just another place to report a story, but rather the beginning of a conversation. The real beauty of a blog is that it can be about anything, told from any perspective and then seen by whoever wants to read it. It seems contrary to everything a blog represents then to put gag orders on the people writing them.
I’m not going to cry censorship on such restrictions, because I can see why it is important to have the public see stories from an unbiased point of view, what if they read the blog before the piece? Then everything journalism represents has been compromised.
If an organization such as a newspaper or magazine or online medium wants to require their employees to maintain blogs then perhaps they should be encouraged to write outside their regular beat. Maybe the truly interesting thing is not hearing a hard core news reporter talking about the topics they cover daily but rather how they covered them or where their travels take them. A blog is interesting because it is a different take on something. I know I would love to hear about reporters’ experiences with the crazy stuff they run into along the path to a story.
I am of the opinion that all reporters and journalists should consider writing a blog, because it allows them to step away from the reporter’s notebook and the standards and the structure and get their voices heard as individuals. I would encourage anyone of any profession to start a blog at that. As to whether or not a journalist should write an opinion based blog regarding something they covered, well in response to that I have a question for them. What is the point of going to all the trouble of presenting people with unbiased information just to turn around and take away from that? Let the article come out, take a week or so to let people see it and then publish your own opinions in a blog if you feel so motivated.
I think as journalists we should respect our jobs enough to check our opinions for a while and let people draw their own conclusions – however as a journalist I also believe that everyone has the right to free speech. In this situation the journalist should not be forced to keep their own opinions quiet, but rather they should understand that while they are individuals with thoughts and opinions of their own, and while that does come first in life, a close second is the fact that they are journalists and have taken an active interest in communicating the unbiased truth to an audience.
What can I say...every once in a while I'm serious :)
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Salad Dressing and Bike Rides...
I was recently told that journalism is not like riding a bicycle. And I have to say, I quite agree. Journalism is a skill, that if not properly practiced and honed regularly, then constantly edited, and honed again, the writer can lose all together. It takes a lot of time and patients to get it right.
To me creative writing is totally like riding a bicycle. You can put down the pen for years, come back and then write some of your greatest stuff.
The two, journalism and creative writing, are like oil and vinegar: they make a great combination when you can get them to mesh, but it takes a lot of work.
Well that puts me in the middle of a very awkward mixture. I am pretty much a chef trying to create a salad dressing that has to be stirred right up until the moment it is put on the salad. There I stand pouring the oily journalism into the vinegar based creative writing…I mean – I need a hand to stir! I only have two hands! The process requires three. That is when I turn to my editors.
I realize that this blog is possibly my most metaphoric yet, however that is just my point, this is simply how I think. I compare and I pull things apart and put them together in weird and bizarre ways, which makes for one mean salad when I have the proper people to help me stir this crazy dressing. No they’re not sitting on a bike while they stir, that was a few metaphors before, try to keep up!
All I’m saying is that creative writing is easy for me, it makes a lot more sense then the inverted pyramid or AP Style or Chicago Manual Style or whatever it is. Creative writing is how my mind works, I’m not a stellar speller and I think a lot of the time I meander around with my words. But I think journalism is an important thing to understand, so I work at it. I fail a lot and get comments about how differently and terribly I can write two pieces on the same subject at either end of my writing spectrum... if that makes sense. I believe the problem is that I do not quite have my dressing formula worked out. I’m sitting there pouring in all oil and then all vinegar and it just turns into one big overdressed sloppy salad mess!
So, as a student, and that’s no metaphor, I’m learning how to get my mixture right. Taking what I know and what comes easy to me and pulling back on the reins. Then adding in what really takes time for me, the structure and the grammar and the style…let’s not forget the actual information and substance. All the while still trying to maintain my voice and charge against the evils of typical journalism, something I will never succumb to. (Pardon me for not idolizing Barbra Walters, but I don’t even own a pastel suite and my hair can never get that puffy.)
All I’m saying is that I’m working on pedaling two bikes right now, and okay it’s challenging, but in the end…if I don’t crash into something and split my head open, which could likely happen to me…but if I can figure it out, it will be way cooler than just riding one bike.
What, were you still thinking about the salad metaphor? I told you, I structure things strangely and totally meander around with words…
To me creative writing is totally like riding a bicycle. You can put down the pen for years, come back and then write some of your greatest stuff.
The two, journalism and creative writing, are like oil and vinegar: they make a great combination when you can get them to mesh, but it takes a lot of work.
Well that puts me in the middle of a very awkward mixture. I am pretty much a chef trying to create a salad dressing that has to be stirred right up until the moment it is put on the salad. There I stand pouring the oily journalism into the vinegar based creative writing…I mean – I need a hand to stir! I only have two hands! The process requires three. That is when I turn to my editors.
I realize that this blog is possibly my most metaphoric yet, however that is just my point, this is simply how I think. I compare and I pull things apart and put them together in weird and bizarre ways, which makes for one mean salad when I have the proper people to help me stir this crazy dressing. No they’re not sitting on a bike while they stir, that was a few metaphors before, try to keep up!
All I’m saying is that creative writing is easy for me, it makes a lot more sense then the inverted pyramid or AP Style or Chicago Manual Style or whatever it is. Creative writing is how my mind works, I’m not a stellar speller and I think a lot of the time I meander around with my words. But I think journalism is an important thing to understand, so I work at it. I fail a lot and get comments about how differently and terribly I can write two pieces on the same subject at either end of my writing spectrum... if that makes sense. I believe the problem is that I do not quite have my dressing formula worked out. I’m sitting there pouring in all oil and then all vinegar and it just turns into one big overdressed sloppy salad mess!
So, as a student, and that’s no metaphor, I’m learning how to get my mixture right. Taking what I know and what comes easy to me and pulling back on the reins. Then adding in what really takes time for me, the structure and the grammar and the style…let’s not forget the actual information and substance. All the while still trying to maintain my voice and charge against the evils of typical journalism, something I will never succumb to. (Pardon me for not idolizing Barbra Walters, but I don’t even own a pastel suite and my hair can never get that puffy.)
All I’m saying is that I’m working on pedaling two bikes right now, and okay it’s challenging, but in the end…if I don’t crash into something and split my head open, which could likely happen to me…but if I can figure it out, it will be way cooler than just riding one bike.
What, were you still thinking about the salad metaphor? I told you, I structure things strangely and totally meander around with words…
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Sick Day
Please pardon this short blog, it was written between throwing up, being curled in a ball and trying to sleep…I appear to have food poisoning or the 24 hour flu or some such nonsense…greeeat.
However it has not been a total waste because while lying in my bed in one of those oddly comfortable positions one tends to find when fighting nausea, something occurred to me. Journalism never gets sick.
Stay with me on this one.
As Journalists we have to sleep, as I’ve pointed out before, we’re human beings. We also have to take time to eat, shower and, as students, go to school. But Journalism doesn’t have to do any of that. News is happening all the time – and it does not get sick.
So here I sit, all icky feeling and everything in the world is still just carrying on, someone still needs to put out the news…if I were an editor of a big publication that operates on a strict deadline I could never just say “Hey guys pardon me but I’m vomiting tonight – no paper tomorrow.” It’s incredibly upsetting.
There is one comforting factor however; we’ve got back up in the form of other journalists to catch us when we get sick. Journalism is so much bigger than any one journalist; it takes all of us to keep it going…and even more of us to keep it moving forward. I may be curled up in bed, but my colleagues around the world are still working hard. It’s so important for journalists to work as a community in pursuing the truth. Otherwise we’ve got a David v. Goliath crisis without the happy ending…
Journalism v. Heather = not a pretty sight.
Journalism v. Heather and the rest of the journalists in the world = a fair fight…and one well worth undertaking.
So I guess thanks to my fellow journalists, we’re doing quite well I’d say!
However it has not been a total waste because while lying in my bed in one of those oddly comfortable positions one tends to find when fighting nausea, something occurred to me. Journalism never gets sick.
Stay with me on this one.
As Journalists we have to sleep, as I’ve pointed out before, we’re human beings. We also have to take time to eat, shower and, as students, go to school. But Journalism doesn’t have to do any of that. News is happening all the time – and it does not get sick.
So here I sit, all icky feeling and everything in the world is still just carrying on, someone still needs to put out the news…if I were an editor of a big publication that operates on a strict deadline I could never just say “Hey guys pardon me but I’m vomiting tonight – no paper tomorrow.” It’s incredibly upsetting.
There is one comforting factor however; we’ve got back up in the form of other journalists to catch us when we get sick. Journalism is so much bigger than any one journalist; it takes all of us to keep it going…and even more of us to keep it moving forward. I may be curled up in bed, but my colleagues around the world are still working hard. It’s so important for journalists to work as a community in pursuing the truth. Otherwise we’ve got a David v. Goliath crisis without the happy ending…
Journalism v. Heather = not a pretty sight.
Journalism v. Heather and the rest of the journalists in the world = a fair fight…and one well worth undertaking.
So I guess thanks to my fellow journalists, we’re doing quite well I’d say!
Friday, April 11, 2008
The Looming Real World...
You know how everyone is always talking about “the real world” after college? Like what we’re doing now doesn’t really count. Trust me I took full advantage of that my freshman year of college…freshman forgiveness was a huge thing for me. But now that I’m getting closer and still closer to a graduation date (May 2009) I’m pursuing internships and looking for ways to take what I’ve learned in this pretend little bubble I live in out into the oh so very terrifying “real world.”
I mean since I got to Miami my life has revolved around UM’s small campus. The faces are familiar and things are comfortable and I have my friends and teachers who I know and like. However now that I’m getting uncomfortably close to the end of my ride here, I’m starting to realize that the stuff I’ve been learning was – hold your breath here – actually worth the money. I have to be honest when I tell you that for a journalism major I do not read enough newspapers, however in my freshmen year I was forced to read them and then have tests about the entire week’s happenings. Now I can, at the very least, appreciate what I’m missing when I don’t read the newspaper. I understand that when I have more free time and enter “the real world” I should probably commit myself to reading it…should probably commit to it now. Maybe that was a bad example…
A better example: I recently applied for an internship that would involve working for a social networking site in terms of gathering content and blogging and – what I’m sure you’ve all noticed is my favorite thing on earth, I say that sarcastically by the way – proof reading. But when I went to the interview I realized that the things I’d been picking up at my job at the student newspaper and in my classes…actually have been worth a lot. I drove over the MacArthur Causeway and realized that the "real world" was a little closer than I had expected.
And while I’m not entirely eager to leave my little bubble of comfort and quirky fun and familiar faces…I’m pretty sure this time next year I’ll at least have the proper tools for the “real world,” and that’s a good thing to know.
I mean since I got to Miami my life has revolved around UM’s small campus. The faces are familiar and things are comfortable and I have my friends and teachers who I know and like. However now that I’m getting uncomfortably close to the end of my ride here, I’m starting to realize that the stuff I’ve been learning was – hold your breath here – actually worth the money. I have to be honest when I tell you that for a journalism major I do not read enough newspapers, however in my freshmen year I was forced to read them and then have tests about the entire week’s happenings. Now I can, at the very least, appreciate what I’m missing when I don’t read the newspaper. I understand that when I have more free time and enter “the real world” I should probably commit myself to reading it…should probably commit to it now. Maybe that was a bad example…
A better example: I recently applied for an internship that would involve working for a social networking site in terms of gathering content and blogging and – what I’m sure you’ve all noticed is my favorite thing on earth, I say that sarcastically by the way – proof reading. But when I went to the interview I realized that the things I’d been picking up at my job at the student newspaper and in my classes…actually have been worth a lot. I drove over the MacArthur Causeway and realized that the "real world" was a little closer than I had expected.
And while I’m not entirely eager to leave my little bubble of comfort and quirky fun and familiar faces…I’m pretty sure this time next year I’ll at least have the proper tools for the “real world,” and that’s a good thing to know.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
so...are you on facebook?
I remember my freshmen roommate emailing me before I even got to campus to ask me if I had Facebook. I had no idea what she was talking about. However those days are long gone.
Where people used to ask for phone numbers they now say “Are you one Facebook?” or “Can I Myspace you?” Remember when you used to give someone your number if you wanted them to contact you? Now all they need is your last name and they get a lot more than your voice. Pictures, interests, quotes, favorite movies, friends you might have in common. It appears that the internet is the dating medium of the future…or rather, the present.
However it goes far beyond the realm of teen angst, college hook up mysteries and a cure for adult loneliness, social networking via the internet has become a viable, and sometimes barely shady, forum for conversation.
People are setting up profiles all over the internet, on aol, on yahoo, everywhere. People from all over the country are getting together and chatting it up.
My aunt belonged to a site where expecting mothers talked about their experiences with pregnancy and having their first baby. They ended up all getting together to meet face to face and came from more than 5 different states.
Apparently online communication is no longer just for middle aged overweight male predators disguised as handsome teenage boys or twelve year old girls in piggy tales.
In terms of online journalism social networks have also become important, quite apart from getting more people on the internet, they promote conversation about upcoming events and news. It introduces people to online, and from there many more doors open up. Online networks allow people to get together and discuss interests. People that might never have met are now discussing important issues and hearing other people’s opinions. It creates a melting pot of views, ideas and opinions that were not there before.
Sooooo the questions remains, “Are you on Facebook?” Or do you prefer a different social network? Because one way or another…if you’re not online…then you’re barely on the planet!
Where people used to ask for phone numbers they now say “Are you one Facebook?” or “Can I Myspace you?” Remember when you used to give someone your number if you wanted them to contact you? Now all they need is your last name and they get a lot more than your voice. Pictures, interests, quotes, favorite movies, friends you might have in common. It appears that the internet is the dating medium of the future…or rather, the present.
However it goes far beyond the realm of teen angst, college hook up mysteries and a cure for adult loneliness, social networking via the internet has become a viable, and sometimes barely shady, forum for conversation.
People are setting up profiles all over the internet, on aol, on yahoo, everywhere. People from all over the country are getting together and chatting it up.
My aunt belonged to a site where expecting mothers talked about their experiences with pregnancy and having their first baby. They ended up all getting together to meet face to face and came from more than 5 different states.
Apparently online communication is no longer just for middle aged overweight male predators disguised as handsome teenage boys or twelve year old girls in piggy tales.
In terms of online journalism social networks have also become important, quite apart from getting more people on the internet, they promote conversation about upcoming events and news. It introduces people to online, and from there many more doors open up. Online networks allow people to get together and discuss interests. People that might never have met are now discussing important issues and hearing other people’s opinions. It creates a melting pot of views, ideas and opinions that were not there before.
Sooooo the questions remains, “Are you on Facebook?” Or do you prefer a different social network? Because one way or another…if you’re not online…then you’re barely on the planet!
Friday, April 4, 2008
Wake up call
I realize blogs are not necessarily supposed to be about yourself... but then again sometimes they have to be. So here goes.
Have you ever come to the unsettling realization that you are less flexible than you realize? That perhaps while you posses more flaws then you can count on all your fingers and toes, you are often intolerant of the flaws of others? I appear to have come to this most unnerving conclusion... I know it’s ironic considering that I've been going off about convergence for a few blogs now – but despite all the perks of it…I’m not sure I’m very good at it.
The diagnosis is in, the doctor has spoken and it appears that in addition to my chronic pen-is-attached-to-my-hand-itis, I am also suffering from most-difficult-human being-to-edit-without-flipping-a-shit-osis.
I realize that potential employers may be reading this and I might be coming off as nothing less than a totally blacklisted human being in terms of being hired... anywhere. However a revelation is a revelation and I write everything so here it is.
I am the person that gets a paper or story I wrote back from a teacher or editor and look at the smiley faces and "nice works" and "great jobs" and feel really great about myself. But up until recently I never really saw the "awks" the "not quites" the "I don't get it, what were you thinkings?" I just glanced right over them.
I got a wake up call.
No one likes wake up calls. One minute you're relaxing and sleeping in your hotel bed and the next thing you know there goes that phone. You don't choose your words wisely at all, you curse, you freak out, you get pretty upset, I mean it's an embarrassing thing, I'm glad more people don't see me wake up... but then when you're out of your comfy bed and awake... you're a happier (and more productive) human being. The wake up call, uncomfortable, perhaps unwanted, is all together necessary.
I think now, and I have to test this theory, I can figure things out a little better. Can manage to understand that while the awks are, indeed, frustrating, no one grows from the nice works... in fact I would encourage anyone who ever works with me to leave them out completely apparently my ego is already hurting my neck, there is no need to do futher damage.
Working with people is imperative, not just in terms of good journalism but in terms of good anything… good everything. If one person could do it all on their own, then what the hell are the rest of us doing anyway?
RIIING RIIING RIIING: This is your wake up call… swallow your pride, look at your criticism, get better at what you do.
I might still be in the waking up process, but it’s better than being dead asleep.
Have you ever come to the unsettling realization that you are less flexible than you realize? That perhaps while you posses more flaws then you can count on all your fingers and toes, you are often intolerant of the flaws of others? I appear to have come to this most unnerving conclusion... I know it’s ironic considering that I've been going off about convergence for a few blogs now – but despite all the perks of it…I’m not sure I’m very good at it.
The diagnosis is in, the doctor has spoken and it appears that in addition to my chronic pen-is-attached-to-my-hand-itis, I am also suffering from most-difficult-human being-to-edit-without-flipping-a-shit-osis.
I realize that potential employers may be reading this and I might be coming off as nothing less than a totally blacklisted human being in terms of being hired... anywhere. However a revelation is a revelation and I write everything so here it is.
I am the person that gets a paper or story I wrote back from a teacher or editor and look at the smiley faces and "nice works" and "great jobs" and feel really great about myself. But up until recently I never really saw the "awks" the "not quites" the "I don't get it, what were you thinkings?" I just glanced right over them.
I got a wake up call.
No one likes wake up calls. One minute you're relaxing and sleeping in your hotel bed and the next thing you know there goes that phone. You don't choose your words wisely at all, you curse, you freak out, you get pretty upset, I mean it's an embarrassing thing, I'm glad more people don't see me wake up... but then when you're out of your comfy bed and awake... you're a happier (and more productive) human being. The wake up call, uncomfortable, perhaps unwanted, is all together necessary.
I think now, and I have to test this theory, I can figure things out a little better. Can manage to understand that while the awks are, indeed, frustrating, no one grows from the nice works... in fact I would encourage anyone who ever works with me to leave them out completely apparently my ego is already hurting my neck, there is no need to do futher damage.
Working with people is imperative, not just in terms of good journalism but in terms of good anything… good everything. If one person could do it all on their own, then what the hell are the rest of us doing anyway?
RIIING RIIING RIIING: This is your wake up call… swallow your pride, look at your criticism, get better at what you do.
I might still be in the waking up process, but it’s better than being dead asleep.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Ballers and Poker Players
There is something about convergence that I fear I left out in a previous blog. We all know that when properly executed the results that convergence can yield are phenomenal. However what do we do when one person falls short, when one person messes up, when one person asks too much? What do we do when minds and heads get knocked together and the ideas that come out are totally different and not at all pretty?
It isn’t easy to get two people to think the same way, or worse still an entire group of people to think the same way. Everyone has that special way of looking at the world that makes them different from the person standing next to them – it is called being a human being. I am afraid that I made convergence sound too simple, too easy, too basic a skill in my past blogs.
Working with other people requires certain finesse, a certain amount of class and a lot of maturity. Things are bound, nine times out of ten, to go a rye, to go so incredibly wrong that you do not even know where to begin to correct things - hello Murphy’s Law. The defining factor is not who got lucky and had everything go smoothly, the defining factor is, in fact, how you handle everything when anything goes wrong.
I cannot sit here and tell you that I am always a patient person, quite the contrary. I expect people to understand what I mean when I first say it, like what I write when they first read it, and never dislike anything I ever put together. However I am more then well aware that this is rarely the case, and despite the fact that I despise that bit of life, I live with it, and feel as though I deal with it as an adult should.
Convergence is a tricky thing, because it requires the mixing of at least two unlike things. I can promise you that I never will understand web design, that spelling will always plague me as one of the more nit-picky things in life and that when asked where exactly a comma should go I will never have a definite answer. I hate having things edited because red pen on my beautiful white paper is disruptive to me. I may internally have the most traumatizing and gut wrenching tantrum when someone does not like something I spent hours on, but the world will never see it.
Convergence is a lot like poker. The hand you’ve been dealt may very well be absolute shit, but you work with the cards you have, keep a straight face and a steady tone and you might just come out on top. But the minute you fall apart you’re forced to fold, and you never know how much you just might lose.
People drop balls all the time…if you haven’t dropped the ball than you’ve never played the game…the question is: Are your teammates (and your captain) capable of picking it back up? The best teammate does not point and laugh at the one who got butter fingers this time around, they just play the game they know…after all you never can be sure when you could be the owner of those slippery phalanges… chances are no one is trying to lose the game for anyone.
It isn’t easy to get two people to think the same way, or worse still an entire group of people to think the same way. Everyone has that special way of looking at the world that makes them different from the person standing next to them – it is called being a human being. I am afraid that I made convergence sound too simple, too easy, too basic a skill in my past blogs.
Working with other people requires certain finesse, a certain amount of class and a lot of maturity. Things are bound, nine times out of ten, to go a rye, to go so incredibly wrong that you do not even know where to begin to correct things - hello Murphy’s Law. The defining factor is not who got lucky and had everything go smoothly, the defining factor is, in fact, how you handle everything when anything goes wrong.
I cannot sit here and tell you that I am always a patient person, quite the contrary. I expect people to understand what I mean when I first say it, like what I write when they first read it, and never dislike anything I ever put together. However I am more then well aware that this is rarely the case, and despite the fact that I despise that bit of life, I live with it, and feel as though I deal with it as an adult should.
Convergence is a tricky thing, because it requires the mixing of at least two unlike things. I can promise you that I never will understand web design, that spelling will always plague me as one of the more nit-picky things in life and that when asked where exactly a comma should go I will never have a definite answer. I hate having things edited because red pen on my beautiful white paper is disruptive to me. I may internally have the most traumatizing and gut wrenching tantrum when someone does not like something I spent hours on, but the world will never see it.
Convergence is a lot like poker. The hand you’ve been dealt may very well be absolute shit, but you work with the cards you have, keep a straight face and a steady tone and you might just come out on top. But the minute you fall apart you’re forced to fold, and you never know how much you just might lose.
People drop balls all the time…if you haven’t dropped the ball than you’ve never played the game…the question is: Are your teammates (and your captain) capable of picking it back up? The best teammate does not point and laugh at the one who got butter fingers this time around, they just play the game they know…after all you never can be sure when you could be the owner of those slippery phalanges… chances are no one is trying to lose the game for anyone.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Love me or Hate me
Alright guys I’ve had enough. What is good journalism? Because I’m getting a little confused. I mean as far as I understood it for a very long time there is a formula, a specific equation for creating the perfect upside down pyramid news story. And I’m sorry but the majority of the stories I have any interest in writing don’t necessarily fit into that perfect little frame… at all.
News is supposed to be important to everyone, crucial to everyone, information everyone can use. Well NEWSFLASH (pardon once again the ridiculous pun): Not everyone is interested in the same thing. There are certain events that anyone and everyone will consider news. September 11th for example was an event that warranted being on the front page, being covered first – it was huge and 99.9% of the America would probably agree. However when we get down to the nitty gritty, the slow news day nonsense…not everyone is going to have an interest in the same thing. Newsworthy: what does that even mean?
I am so tired of being told what stories I should tell or how I should tell them based on the same formula that everyone before me has used. How is that innovative? How is that effective? How is that worth anything to anyone? Risks and new and different angles are important. I’ve said it from day one: the future of journalism is in the hands of the students currently learning it. We see things differently and THANK GOD! Because I don’t want to wear the suit and cover the same types of stories that have been being covered since forever. I don’t have an idol when it comes to journalism, because as far as I’m concerned I want my work to be my own. I want to write with my own voice, and tell stories with some perspective in them. Alright so I’m not cut out for hard news, I’ve always known that. Ever since my first journalism teacher told me there was a certain way to write a story.
I happen to like a bit of personality in what I write. In fact I would go so far as to say that me spitting out random facts and nonsense in a particular way isn’t even what I consider to be my writing at all. Rather some arbitrary exercise is boredom.
If given the choice between being a journalist who is well respected by everyone around me for work that I hate or being frowned upon for having an absurd and sometimes opinionated voice that I love, I choose the latter. Because I believe that emotion in everything and especially writing is imperative. So love me or hate me and my writing, I really refuse to simply be an echo of the voices before me…I really really refuse.
News is supposed to be important to everyone, crucial to everyone, information everyone can use. Well NEWSFLASH (pardon once again the ridiculous pun): Not everyone is interested in the same thing. There are certain events that anyone and everyone will consider news. September 11th for example was an event that warranted being on the front page, being covered first – it was huge and 99.9% of the America would probably agree. However when we get down to the nitty gritty, the slow news day nonsense…not everyone is going to have an interest in the same thing. Newsworthy: what does that even mean?
I am so tired of being told what stories I should tell or how I should tell them based on the same formula that everyone before me has used. How is that innovative? How is that effective? How is that worth anything to anyone? Risks and new and different angles are important. I’ve said it from day one: the future of journalism is in the hands of the students currently learning it. We see things differently and THANK GOD! Because I don’t want to wear the suit and cover the same types of stories that have been being covered since forever. I don’t have an idol when it comes to journalism, because as far as I’m concerned I want my work to be my own. I want to write with my own voice, and tell stories with some perspective in them. Alright so I’m not cut out for hard news, I’ve always known that. Ever since my first journalism teacher told me there was a certain way to write a story.
I happen to like a bit of personality in what I write. In fact I would go so far as to say that me spitting out random facts and nonsense in a particular way isn’t even what I consider to be my writing at all. Rather some arbitrary exercise is boredom.
If given the choice between being a journalist who is well respected by everyone around me for work that I hate or being frowned upon for having an absurd and sometimes opinionated voice that I love, I choose the latter. Because I believe that emotion in everything and especially writing is imperative. So love me or hate me and my writing, I really refuse to simply be an echo of the voices before me…I really really refuse.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Cooperative Jouralism...who'd a thunk it?
It used to be, and I am not incredibly proud to admit this, I had a hard time working with other people. I mean I’d do it and I considered myself to be a team player and friendly and cooperative, but to be entirely frank I’d get a little irritated by the whole thing.
There was almost nothing more frustrating to me than to have someone sit there and try to change the article I had been working on – apart from editors who are people I quite appreciate to this day. But it would drive me crazy to have someone reword a sentence I was writing before it even was complete. It was not my thing.
Then some people introduced me to this little thing they like to call online journalism, and I’ve got to let you know I’ve never wanted more people to assist me in my entire life. I have since concluded that my past mindset might be as dated as the notion that print journalism is all there is. Suddenly I was calling up everyone I knew asking questions, getting feedback, and attempting to help others where I could…though those brief moments of glory were few and miles between.
You cannot be an expert on everything. Some people know web design, some people know video, others know audio and still others are strong in photography. Online journalism is a lot like online in general, in order for it to be effective a lot of minds have to come together. One story can have three, five, ten people working to produce it. It gets to the point where why on earth would you work alone? To do so would be sacrificing some integrity in the story.
Online journalism is a cooperative activity. And really isn’t that the best thing? More minds, more hands, more ideas the entire scenario just creates a melting pot of ideas and strategy. It goes past one person’s vision and expands to be more truthful, timely and accurate – it inevitably becomes better journalism. More people checking other people’s work, I mean it is truly a great set up.
And I realize other people might have arrived at this conclusion prior to me receiving the memo…but it really is a great discovery that I thought I’d share with those whose faxes are working somehow slower than mind.
MEMORANDUM
ATTN: All Journalists and Human Beings
SUBJECT: Working with other people actually pays off, especially in regards to journalism and even more especially in regards to Online Journalism.
Thank you and Best Regards,
Heather C.
There was almost nothing more frustrating to me than to have someone sit there and try to change the article I had been working on – apart from editors who are people I quite appreciate to this day. But it would drive me crazy to have someone reword a sentence I was writing before it even was complete. It was not my thing.
Then some people introduced me to this little thing they like to call online journalism, and I’ve got to let you know I’ve never wanted more people to assist me in my entire life. I have since concluded that my past mindset might be as dated as the notion that print journalism is all there is. Suddenly I was calling up everyone I knew asking questions, getting feedback, and attempting to help others where I could…though those brief moments of glory were few and miles between.
You cannot be an expert on everything. Some people know web design, some people know video, others know audio and still others are strong in photography. Online journalism is a lot like online in general, in order for it to be effective a lot of minds have to come together. One story can have three, five, ten people working to produce it. It gets to the point where why on earth would you work alone? To do so would be sacrificing some integrity in the story.
Online journalism is a cooperative activity. And really isn’t that the best thing? More minds, more hands, more ideas the entire scenario just creates a melting pot of ideas and strategy. It goes past one person’s vision and expands to be more truthful, timely and accurate – it inevitably becomes better journalism. More people checking other people’s work, I mean it is truly a great set up.
And I realize other people might have arrived at this conclusion prior to me receiving the memo…but it really is a great discovery that I thought I’d share with those whose faxes are working somehow slower than mind.
MEMORANDUM
ATTN: All Journalists and Human Beings
SUBJECT: Working with other people actually pays off, especially in regards to journalism and even more especially in regards to Online Journalism.
Thank you and Best Regards,
Heather C.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Serious Defamation
Huh how unlike me to tackle a subject like defamation…so serious. That being said here’s my thing about defamation and the laws surrounding it.
To me the entire world is just a little bit like high school. You’ve got the celebrities, you know the popular kids that everyone wants to be like and sit next to at lunch? But instead of winning crowns and football games they’re making more money than anyone else can imagine. And so then you’ve got the B group, you know middle class citizens that make the money and sometimes bump elbows with the rich and famous but are really just there to do the dirty work.
And let’s please not forget the geek squad, but in the real world it is totally a revenge of the nerds situation as they’re making more money than the middle class citizens anyway because they were never afraid to raise their hands in science class and now are engineers and millionaires. And the list goes on and on and on there are all the different groups only instead of crowding the halls in a high school they’re covering the entire planet. The class president suddenly is in control of nuclear weapons and school rivalries have turned into cold wars and acts of terrorism.
So how on earth, you might be wondering, does this relate back to the oh so very serious topic of defamation? Let me go ahead and show you.
Every fifteen year old on the planet gossips and let me tell you…not so very many people grow out of it. But instead of slam books and word of mouth there are a few more options. The smarter that people get, often times, the stupider they act. If you had to ask me I’d probably guess the editor at the Enquirer was probably the gossip god or goddess of high school…I mean no offense…can I be sued for that?!?
Instead of oddly folded notes getting into the wrong hands, and whispers in the hall getting too loud the gossip is in magazines and all over the web. People saying things about the popular kids, people saying things about the nerds and the middle class citizens and that one really weird guy.
And instead of getting sent to the principal’s office for a little smack on the hand, detention and maybe a suspension, all depending of course on what was said – you’ve got people suing other people, demanding money and the ruin of the offender’s reputation. They get their revenge through monetary means, settlements and through justification of the justice system…or something.
But here’s the thing – what was said was still said. The rumor is still out no matter what motivated the person to spread it in the first place, be it an honest mistake or a malicious attack. And also no matter the punishment, be is a slap on the hand or a thirty million dollar law suit. As long as people are alive they are going to be saying things about the jocks, the nerds, the cheerleaders, the prom queen, the weird girl in math class, that one guy who is a millionaire, that kid who stole that one thing from so and so, the president of the class, the president of the country… it can be illegal and it can be wrong but it is still going to happen.
I’m not saying that the laws surrounding defamation are all in vain – they are incredibly important, but given the size of this world wide high school, one has to consider them slightly ineffective. A small price to pay for that silly little thing we American folk like to call Freedom of Speech…but I mean – tell that to Britney.
To me the entire world is just a little bit like high school. You’ve got the celebrities, you know the popular kids that everyone wants to be like and sit next to at lunch? But instead of winning crowns and football games they’re making more money than anyone else can imagine. And so then you’ve got the B group, you know middle class citizens that make the money and sometimes bump elbows with the rich and famous but are really just there to do the dirty work.
And let’s please not forget the geek squad, but in the real world it is totally a revenge of the nerds situation as they’re making more money than the middle class citizens anyway because they were never afraid to raise their hands in science class and now are engineers and millionaires. And the list goes on and on and on there are all the different groups only instead of crowding the halls in a high school they’re covering the entire planet. The class president suddenly is in control of nuclear weapons and school rivalries have turned into cold wars and acts of terrorism.
So how on earth, you might be wondering, does this relate back to the oh so very serious topic of defamation? Let me go ahead and show you.
Every fifteen year old on the planet gossips and let me tell you…not so very many people grow out of it. But instead of slam books and word of mouth there are a few more options. The smarter that people get, often times, the stupider they act. If you had to ask me I’d probably guess the editor at the Enquirer was probably the gossip god or goddess of high school…I mean no offense…can I be sued for that?!?
Instead of oddly folded notes getting into the wrong hands, and whispers in the hall getting too loud the gossip is in magazines and all over the web. People saying things about the popular kids, people saying things about the nerds and the middle class citizens and that one really weird guy.
And instead of getting sent to the principal’s office for a little smack on the hand, detention and maybe a suspension, all depending of course on what was said – you’ve got people suing other people, demanding money and the ruin of the offender’s reputation. They get their revenge through monetary means, settlements and through justification of the justice system…or something.
But here’s the thing – what was said was still said. The rumor is still out no matter what motivated the person to spread it in the first place, be it an honest mistake or a malicious attack. And also no matter the punishment, be is a slap on the hand or a thirty million dollar law suit. As long as people are alive they are going to be saying things about the jocks, the nerds, the cheerleaders, the prom queen, the weird girl in math class, that one guy who is a millionaire, that kid who stole that one thing from so and so, the president of the class, the president of the country… it can be illegal and it can be wrong but it is still going to happen.
I’m not saying that the laws surrounding defamation are all in vain – they are incredibly important, but given the size of this world wide high school, one has to consider them slightly ineffective. A small price to pay for that silly little thing we American folk like to call Freedom of Speech…but I mean – tell that to Britney.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Can I get some water with that cover piece please?
Am I the only person who gets tired of straight up hard news? I mean please don’t get me wrong, it’s important, it’s crucial to the spread of information – but my God sometimes I get so tired of writing it…and reading it. The same is true for watching CNN, you know the news castor voice? Where everything sounds the same, with that token pause and the exact same rhythm so the audience can pay attention…does anyone else tire of that?
Maybe it is because I’m 21 years old, a college student and so not into politics, but hard news sometimes gives me a major case of the yawns. The way the headlines are written, the way everything is so violently structured, call me a crazed individualist but I like people to recognize my writing when it is placed next to the work of any other Tom, Dick or Sally. I want people to pick something up and say “There goes that crazy Heather again.”
I think that often time’s people confuse journalism with hard news…sorry pals but there are journalists out there who don’t necessarily aspire to write for The Times or The Post or the Herald. I often think that opinion pieces are underrated when it comes to their intellectual value.
I am certainly not saying that the entire layout of papers and websites should be changed to highlight opinion pieces rather than news, I’m not crazy – I’m just saying lets give opinion pieces the credit they deserve. They are viable works of literature and have absolute value when it comes to seeking the truth. Opinions are great things, they make people passionate and involved and motivated.
If I didn’t have some of the opinions that I’ve got I would say I would be half as good a person and less than half as good a writer. My opinions give me fire, they make me ask the questions that lead to the articles that are important. I mean, granted, if I write an piece that is riddled with my personal bias then okay it should appear under the big bold easily read letters of OPINION. But sometimes I think that people get down on opinion writers for being less journalistically inclined than hard core news gatherers.
I beg to differ.
I mean what makes people interested in those headline news articles so many people want to so drily write? Can’t it be argued that someone’s opinion is what eventually leads them to pick up a newspaper and see what’s inside? We read about George Bush because we want to see either a) what is that good for nothing son of a bitch doing to screw the country this time? or b) what is that prime example of a human being doing to protect and defend our United States…and anything between the two. People read the news so they can form opinions of their own, so how can people look down their noses at people that have the courage to write what their opinions actually are?
Journalism is not just one thing, it isn’t just news. It is news, and entertainment, and opinion, and sports and strange pieces that appear in magazines and newsletters everywhere. Journalism is communicating something you think is important to a large group of people. It is not an upside down pyramid with quotes, facts and names thrown in only where the most calculated of journalistic equations require them. An opinion piece is just as much journalism as a hardcore front cover news piece. A documentary is just as much journalism as a serious clip fro CNN. The point is they are just different genres of journalism, none more important than the others, just all of them working together to get to the truth.
Maybe it is because I’m 21 years old, a college student and so not into politics, but hard news sometimes gives me a major case of the yawns. The way the headlines are written, the way everything is so violently structured, call me a crazed individualist but I like people to recognize my writing when it is placed next to the work of any other Tom, Dick or Sally. I want people to pick something up and say “There goes that crazy Heather again.”
I think that often time’s people confuse journalism with hard news…sorry pals but there are journalists out there who don’t necessarily aspire to write for The Times or The Post or the Herald. I often think that opinion pieces are underrated when it comes to their intellectual value.
I am certainly not saying that the entire layout of papers and websites should be changed to highlight opinion pieces rather than news, I’m not crazy – I’m just saying lets give opinion pieces the credit they deserve. They are viable works of literature and have absolute value when it comes to seeking the truth. Opinions are great things, they make people passionate and involved and motivated.
If I didn’t have some of the opinions that I’ve got I would say I would be half as good a person and less than half as good a writer. My opinions give me fire, they make me ask the questions that lead to the articles that are important. I mean, granted, if I write an piece that is riddled with my personal bias then okay it should appear under the big bold easily read letters of OPINION. But sometimes I think that people get down on opinion writers for being less journalistically inclined than hard core news gatherers.
I beg to differ.
I mean what makes people interested in those headline news articles so many people want to so drily write? Can’t it be argued that someone’s opinion is what eventually leads them to pick up a newspaper and see what’s inside? We read about George Bush because we want to see either a) what is that good for nothing son of a bitch doing to screw the country this time? or b) what is that prime example of a human being doing to protect and defend our United States…and anything between the two. People read the news so they can form opinions of their own, so how can people look down their noses at people that have the courage to write what their opinions actually are?
Journalism is not just one thing, it isn’t just news. It is news, and entertainment, and opinion, and sports and strange pieces that appear in magazines and newsletters everywhere. Journalism is communicating something you think is important to a large group of people. It is not an upside down pyramid with quotes, facts and names thrown in only where the most calculated of journalistic equations require them. An opinion piece is just as much journalism as a hardcore front cover news piece. A documentary is just as much journalism as a serious clip fro CNN. The point is they are just different genres of journalism, none more important than the others, just all of them working together to get to the truth.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Here comes the journalist...
Has anyone ever noticed how attached journalists are to their jobs? When I first started thinking about what I wanted to do with my life being a journalist seemed like an easy way to get a job doing what I love. I could write and talk to people and well wouldn’t that be just so cool?
Well after nearly three years in school studying this fine profession I have come to a conclusion. At my graduation I should not being wearing a cap and gown, I should be wearing a wedding dress and walking down the isle to the Wedding March tune, or Paco Bell’s Cannon or some other such romantic nonsense. The fact of the matter is, we do marry our jobs. Point blank.
To survive in this profession it’s impossible to think of yourself as a normal human being, you have to be crazy bionic and not really adhere to the regular standards of all the other human beings. Editors, teachers, people reading your work, people criticizing your work they all expect the same thing: perfection. You can put together the most impressive publication on the planet and if there’s a spelling error you can be damn sure someone’s going to notice it. You can have one problem in twenty pages and someone is going to think that much less of you and the paper or magazine or website you work for.
And this is my favorite part, as journalists we put so much effort into our pieces. We drive sometimes hours and hours to put together one story. We harass people none stop, making calls, checking emails, my left hand might as well be my laptop. I mean I truly believe that the Blackberry was created for us. And then there’s writing the story, editing film, tweaking audio, checking transitions and people sit down for five minutes maybe to see what we’ve done. And when we’re really lucky they call us bias or notice the one thing we missed – a flawed transition, a misplace coma, you name it.
So like any other marriage we really have to be in love. Not just with writing, not just with talking to people, not just with never sleeping until the story’s done, or the paper’s finished, or the magazine is in print. We have to love all of it. And in the end come hell or high water we have to have passion for the pieces we do. We have to at least fall in love with the stories we cover just a little bit. Sure we have to step back and ask whether or not the story is relevant, or appropriate, or timely, we have to be unbiased about the subject matter and objective. But when the time comes to look at what we have created, we have to have a connection with it. We have to see our words, or our video or hear our audio and know that it was worth the hours we weren’t with our friends and families. That it was worth the effort and the gas and the irritation of “oh my freakin God what the hell is wrong with this source who won’t email me back!?!”
So do you take this crazy career for better or for worse, for crazy sources or sane people, for crashing computers or flawless work, as long as you both shall live?
I do.
Well after nearly three years in school studying this fine profession I have come to a conclusion. At my graduation I should not being wearing a cap and gown, I should be wearing a wedding dress and walking down the isle to the Wedding March tune, or Paco Bell’s Cannon or some other such romantic nonsense. The fact of the matter is, we do marry our jobs. Point blank.
To survive in this profession it’s impossible to think of yourself as a normal human being, you have to be crazy bionic and not really adhere to the regular standards of all the other human beings. Editors, teachers, people reading your work, people criticizing your work they all expect the same thing: perfection. You can put together the most impressive publication on the planet and if there’s a spelling error you can be damn sure someone’s going to notice it. You can have one problem in twenty pages and someone is going to think that much less of you and the paper or magazine or website you work for.
And this is my favorite part, as journalists we put so much effort into our pieces. We drive sometimes hours and hours to put together one story. We harass people none stop, making calls, checking emails, my left hand might as well be my laptop. I mean I truly believe that the Blackberry was created for us. And then there’s writing the story, editing film, tweaking audio, checking transitions and people sit down for five minutes maybe to see what we’ve done. And when we’re really lucky they call us bias or notice the one thing we missed – a flawed transition, a misplace coma, you name it.
So like any other marriage we really have to be in love. Not just with writing, not just with talking to people, not just with never sleeping until the story’s done, or the paper’s finished, or the magazine is in print. We have to love all of it. And in the end come hell or high water we have to have passion for the pieces we do. We have to at least fall in love with the stories we cover just a little bit. Sure we have to step back and ask whether or not the story is relevant, or appropriate, or timely, we have to be unbiased about the subject matter and objective. But when the time comes to look at what we have created, we have to have a connection with it. We have to see our words, or our video or hear our audio and know that it was worth the hours we weren’t with our friends and families. That it was worth the effort and the gas and the irritation of “oh my freakin God what the hell is wrong with this source who won’t email me back!?!”
So do you take this crazy career for better or for worse, for crazy sources or sane people, for crashing computers or flawless work, as long as you both shall live?
I do.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Old School Education in a New School World
When I came to college to learn how to be a journalist I have to admit that after a few mind numbing classes about the basics, ethics, and law I wanted to stab myself in the eye with a pencil rather than learn about it…again. Into my sophomore year I almost considered dropping the major for something more useful after being told that I was going to spend ½ my career in the obits section of some small arbitrary newspaper.
I was traumatized by learning the same thing….over….and over….and over again. Com 101, Com 110, Com 250 (I don’t even remember what they stand for) and it didn’t stop there. Ethics, law, law again, ethics again, history, history, history…Class after class after class I was left with the question: Is this education or some strange form of torture? I will say it again: Mind Numbing!
And then I get to my junior year, after serious inner turmoil and completely by a lucky accident I have found myself in a class that is teaching me –hark what’s this? – something useful! Though I am certainly no advocate for Dreamweaver. And there are things that I am lost on when it comes to SoundSlides. And YES I get very frustrated with HTML and all the rest – but at least it is hands on and going to make a difference in my future.
Why is it that I learned about five useful things in four classes? What the hell is the point of that? The pencil? The Xerox Machine? Really Cohen versus California again? From an ethical standpoint, a legal standpoint, some rambling professor’s standpoint…seriously?
And then I have about twenty crucial things being jammed into one class that by the way, only fulfills a requirement by default…ummm what? Okay the class is tiring, and time consuming, and often frustrating to the point of tears for those among us who are technologically below par, but I would rather have a head ache than wonder where my head even is.
I understand that what we learn in those babbling classes is essentially important, even if not all that interesting. But isn’t it more important in our chosen field to expose the up and coming to something that can actually help us? It is my belief that journalism programs needs to be executed like trade schools. Give us two boring ridiculous classes and then, for the love of the written word, please teach us something helpful! Expose us to the field, make internships not only important, but required. Teach us the history in shorter doses that are a) easier to remember and b) less time consuming. If I go into an interview and say “Hey I don’t have a portfolio or any experience at all, but here’s the history of the pencil, papyrus, and the feather quill,” they’re going to look at me like I’m the most ridiculous human being on the planet.
I mean we’re always talking about timeliness right? Well someone please enlighten me: What the hell is timely about the history of an eraser?
I was traumatized by learning the same thing….over….and over….and over again. Com 101, Com 110, Com 250 (I don’t even remember what they stand for) and it didn’t stop there. Ethics, law, law again, ethics again, history, history, history…Class after class after class I was left with the question: Is this education or some strange form of torture? I will say it again: Mind Numbing!
And then I get to my junior year, after serious inner turmoil and completely by a lucky accident I have found myself in a class that is teaching me –hark what’s this? – something useful! Though I am certainly no advocate for Dreamweaver. And there are things that I am lost on when it comes to SoundSlides. And YES I get very frustrated with HTML and all the rest – but at least it is hands on and going to make a difference in my future.
Why is it that I learned about five useful things in four classes? What the hell is the point of that? The pencil? The Xerox Machine? Really Cohen versus California again? From an ethical standpoint, a legal standpoint, some rambling professor’s standpoint…seriously?
And then I have about twenty crucial things being jammed into one class that by the way, only fulfills a requirement by default…ummm what? Okay the class is tiring, and time consuming, and often frustrating to the point of tears for those among us who are technologically below par, but I would rather have a head ache than wonder where my head even is.
I understand that what we learn in those babbling classes is essentially important, even if not all that interesting. But isn’t it more important in our chosen field to expose the up and coming to something that can actually help us? It is my belief that journalism programs needs to be executed like trade schools. Give us two boring ridiculous classes and then, for the love of the written word, please teach us something helpful! Expose us to the field, make internships not only important, but required. Teach us the history in shorter doses that are a) easier to remember and b) less time consuming. If I go into an interview and say “Hey I don’t have a portfolio or any experience at all, but here’s the history of the pencil, papyrus, and the feather quill,” they’re going to look at me like I’m the most ridiculous human being on the planet.
I mean we’re always talking about timeliness right? Well someone please enlighten me: What the hell is timely about the history of an eraser?
Friday, February 29, 2008
Powerful Characters
Here’s the funny thing about stories: they need characters and they need emotion. Period.
Ricardo Lopez of the Miami Herald says that, “The power of character is something really, really simple,” but also incredibly important. Even with the most interesting angles, the greatest lighting imaginable, and flawless editing, if you don’t have emotion in a video you just don’t have anything at all.
Have you ever seen those artsy movies? The kind where everything is really pretty but in the end you just don’t know what’s going on. Or the poetry that is beautifully written, but says absolutely nothing. It is kind of like staring at a flower for a really long time, don’t get me wrong I’m very pro nature, love flowers…but I mean I appreciate them for what they are – something nice to look at and then kind of walk away from. You don’t become a better person, a more educated person, a more understanding person from staring at a flower. You just don’t.
Emotion comes from the character, not from the creator. Especially in journalism portraying the person as they are is so much more powerful than trying to glitz them up or make them into something they are not. The idea is to find a character that is so interesting that the emotion follows and all the journalist has to do is make sure that the audience receives an articulate image of the character and their story.
Things get messy and distorted and chaotic when a journalist detracts from the story with a lot of fancy nonsense. Like bizarre cuts, and editing decisions that completely dilute the story. Please pardon the reference back to my ever present internal struggle between journalist and creative writer, but I’ve always said the difference between the two is that creative writing is all about the words, how you piece them together and all that. Journalism is about the subject and putting as few words between the audience and the subject as possible. Both professions have their place, but when it comes to putting together a journalistic media package on a certain character it is best to be only as creative as you need to be.
The funny thing about being a journalist is you work your ass off and in the end, the best way to tell if you’re good at what you do is if no one remembers you at all. Bizarre I guess.
Ricardo Lopez of the Miami Herald says that, “The power of character is something really, really simple,” but also incredibly important. Even with the most interesting angles, the greatest lighting imaginable, and flawless editing, if you don’t have emotion in a video you just don’t have anything at all.
Have you ever seen those artsy movies? The kind where everything is really pretty but in the end you just don’t know what’s going on. Or the poetry that is beautifully written, but says absolutely nothing. It is kind of like staring at a flower for a really long time, don’t get me wrong I’m very pro nature, love flowers…but I mean I appreciate them for what they are – something nice to look at and then kind of walk away from. You don’t become a better person, a more educated person, a more understanding person from staring at a flower. You just don’t.
Emotion comes from the character, not from the creator. Especially in journalism portraying the person as they are is so much more powerful than trying to glitz them up or make them into something they are not. The idea is to find a character that is so interesting that the emotion follows and all the journalist has to do is make sure that the audience receives an articulate image of the character and their story.
Things get messy and distorted and chaotic when a journalist detracts from the story with a lot of fancy nonsense. Like bizarre cuts, and editing decisions that completely dilute the story. Please pardon the reference back to my ever present internal struggle between journalist and creative writer, but I’ve always said the difference between the two is that creative writing is all about the words, how you piece them together and all that. Journalism is about the subject and putting as few words between the audience and the subject as possible. Both professions have their place, but when it comes to putting together a journalistic media package on a certain character it is best to be only as creative as you need to be.
The funny thing about being a journalist is you work your ass off and in the end, the best way to tell if you’re good at what you do is if no one remembers you at all. Bizarre I guess.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Technologically Advanced? Let’s try Dependent…
Technology is a funny, funny thing. I mean look around – how much of our tech-savvy lives need to be plugged into an outlet? House a battery? Soak up the sun’s rays? Everything we’ve created is contingent on an outside power source. I find it a little ironic, actually, that after praising the internet and online journalism so much, I started this blog on paper…you know, writing with a pen? An apparently more reliable form of communication, even if it can’t reach the masses.
Today at 1:00 PM the Miami area as well as other portions of Southern Florida and all the way up to Daytona, experienced a little over an hour long black out. I was stranded alone at work for a moment and am not too proud a person to admit that at one point, yes I was convinced this might be an alien attack…whatever I’m imaginative alright?
After a few minute of serious consideration, and a few out of area phone calls however, I figured that no, an alien invasion was not, for today, an immanent threat. Overreliance on technology, however, is another story.
After managing to settle myself down I realized, “Oh NO! I have a blog due for my class at 5:00PM!!!” Well I stared at the blank black computer screens all around me and was a little distraught – “now what?” definitely came to mind.
This all got me thinking and what did I come up with? The blog…has a flaw! It’s wonderful that what I write can reach a lot of people – but specific people, people hooked up to the internet, who have electricity and quick modems and blackberry’s and everything else. But what about when we lose connection, or worse still, never had it to begin with? Not a day goes by when I don’t see a computer, access my email, check my blog or other people’s blogs, but the truth is that’s just simply not the case for all of America.
So after some time in the dark to think of things other than aliens I reverted back to how I started writing, pen in hand. And what conclusion did I draw by the end of the page? Online is great – for some people, but newspapers, magazines, broadcast news, radio – its all necessary. Everyone needs to be able to access information in many different ways, because what do we do when it’s lights out for the greater portion of an entire state? I mean – we need options. The more ways to get the news the better!
So who knows – maybe its time I gave Mr. Newspaper another shot at wooing me, I’m skeptical, but we’ll see.
Today at 1:00 PM the Miami area as well as other portions of Southern Florida and all the way up to Daytona, experienced a little over an hour long black out. I was stranded alone at work for a moment and am not too proud a person to admit that at one point, yes I was convinced this might be an alien attack…whatever I’m imaginative alright?
After a few minute of serious consideration, and a few out of area phone calls however, I figured that no, an alien invasion was not, for today, an immanent threat. Overreliance on technology, however, is another story.
After managing to settle myself down I realized, “Oh NO! I have a blog due for my class at 5:00PM!!!” Well I stared at the blank black computer screens all around me and was a little distraught – “now what?” definitely came to mind.
This all got me thinking and what did I come up with? The blog…has a flaw! It’s wonderful that what I write can reach a lot of people – but specific people, people hooked up to the internet, who have electricity and quick modems and blackberry’s and everything else. But what about when we lose connection, or worse still, never had it to begin with? Not a day goes by when I don’t see a computer, access my email, check my blog or other people’s blogs, but the truth is that’s just simply not the case for all of America.
So after some time in the dark to think of things other than aliens I reverted back to how I started writing, pen in hand. And what conclusion did I draw by the end of the page? Online is great – for some people, but newspapers, magazines, broadcast news, radio – its all necessary. Everyone needs to be able to access information in many different ways, because what do we do when it’s lights out for the greater portion of an entire state? I mean – we need options. The more ways to get the news the better!
So who knows – maybe its time I gave Mr. Newspaper another shot at wooing me, I’m skeptical, but we’ll see.
Friday, February 22, 2008
I'm sorry, HTMWhat?
From high school to now I have taken at least five computer courses that I can recall. And every single one has been different.
In my first class my wayward and slightly emotional teacher attempted to teach me how to write HTML code, needless to say the only reason I passed that one with flying colors was a good friend of mine dedicated a lot of time to assisting me. However being the dimwitted fourteen year old that I then was, I forgot it all a semester later. Senior year came around the bend and I found myself, oddly enough in another computer course. Computer design.
While this class let me be more artistic and creative there was just something about Flash that continually confused me. Not to mention everything I had learned in Freshmen year, whether I remembered it or not, had changed!
By the time I got to college I was pretty fed up, but alas someone had to teach us how to use all the Microsoft programs. I don’t know if you’ve realized this but now there’s a new Microsoft program since 2007, making what I learned three years ago outdated also.
Well a few courses of confusion and a very shifty website later I think I’ve had it. I’m just going to have to sit down at a computer for unnatural amounts of time and harness this strange talent people call web design.
When people say DreamWhat? I’d like to respond with a heart felt “DreamWeaver,” and another “Oh yes I do understand that program, actually.”
Remember when you learned something and you just knew it? Reading, writing and Arithmetic, you learned them and they were there to stay. If you struggled with any of them, well then you had the pleasure of knowing that once you mastered their trickiness you were going to have it for life.
Well things are differnet now. Now I sit down at a computer and stare at its monitor for hours only to be told that what I’m learning could be useless in a year, six months, tomorrow, whenever! It’s a hard pill to swallow, I’m not going to lie.
However, the internet is so important and understanding it, at a very basic level at the very least, is critical in the job market these days. I recently found out people no longer want written resumes, but rather a website designed by you and about you, showing that you can pull out all the stops when it comes to those crazy things people call websites. An online resume, try taking that one back in time and see the looks you get. Especially in a field like journalism staying up to date on different technologies is as important as staying up to date with the news itself.
Its not about just the writing any more, note the look of surprise on this print journalism and creative writing major’s face, its about so much more than that. Getting on this crazy journalism train is difficult and once you’ve jumped on there are about ten thousand people just waiting to push you off again, it’s not easy at all. In fact it’s very difficult. It is not a field for someone who wants to sit back, relax and enjoy a cocktail. It requires constant attention, dedication and aggression. The new technologies that pertain to journalism, after all, are only useful if they are understood.
So there you have it. It’s called HTML, and it stands for HyperText Markup Language – just incase you were wondering. Online here I come, maybe a little slowly, but surely...for sure!
In my first class my wayward and slightly emotional teacher attempted to teach me how to write HTML code, needless to say the only reason I passed that one with flying colors was a good friend of mine dedicated a lot of time to assisting me. However being the dimwitted fourteen year old that I then was, I forgot it all a semester later. Senior year came around the bend and I found myself, oddly enough in another computer course. Computer design.
While this class let me be more artistic and creative there was just something about Flash that continually confused me. Not to mention everything I had learned in Freshmen year, whether I remembered it or not, had changed!
By the time I got to college I was pretty fed up, but alas someone had to teach us how to use all the Microsoft programs. I don’t know if you’ve realized this but now there’s a new Microsoft program since 2007, making what I learned three years ago outdated also.
Well a few courses of confusion and a very shifty website later I think I’ve had it. I’m just going to have to sit down at a computer for unnatural amounts of time and harness this strange talent people call web design.
When people say DreamWhat? I’d like to respond with a heart felt “DreamWeaver,” and another “Oh yes I do understand that program, actually.”
Remember when you learned something and you just knew it? Reading, writing and Arithmetic, you learned them and they were there to stay. If you struggled with any of them, well then you had the pleasure of knowing that once you mastered their trickiness you were going to have it for life.
Well things are differnet now. Now I sit down at a computer and stare at its monitor for hours only to be told that what I’m learning could be useless in a year, six months, tomorrow, whenever! It’s a hard pill to swallow, I’m not going to lie.
However, the internet is so important and understanding it, at a very basic level at the very least, is critical in the job market these days. I recently found out people no longer want written resumes, but rather a website designed by you and about you, showing that you can pull out all the stops when it comes to those crazy things people call websites. An online resume, try taking that one back in time and see the looks you get. Especially in a field like journalism staying up to date on different technologies is as important as staying up to date with the news itself.
Its not about just the writing any more, note the look of surprise on this print journalism and creative writing major’s face, its about so much more than that. Getting on this crazy journalism train is difficult and once you’ve jumped on there are about ten thousand people just waiting to push you off again, it’s not easy at all. In fact it’s very difficult. It is not a field for someone who wants to sit back, relax and enjoy a cocktail. It requires constant attention, dedication and aggression. The new technologies that pertain to journalism, after all, are only useful if they are understood.
So there you have it. It’s called HTML, and it stands for HyperText Markup Language – just incase you were wondering. Online here I come, maybe a little slowly, but surely...for sure!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Old Man Mr.Newspaper
In one of my classes today someone gave a speech about how and why newspapers are dying. The journalist in me immediately got offended and defensive all at once. How ridiculous, newspapers, dying ha! That’s going to be years from now. I was really worked up about it until I got to work at the student newspaper and had to send out subscriptions.
With ink all over my hands I realized…maybe I haven’t had such a great relationship with Mr. Newspaper. Maybe I haven’t had one at all…
I’ve never really liked reading newspapers, as a journalist looking to write for a magazine the writing style isn’t even a great passion of mine. I am not someone that likes to wake up in the morning sipping coffee, another friend I have not yet officially made, and get ink all over my hands. Even as a kid I was never into the cartoons. Quite frankly the paper Mr. Newspaper is printed on has always rubbed me the wrong way. It’s just a weird texture if you ask me. So I really think I started to have a journalistic crisis.
With so many later and greater ways to get our news, what keeps us holding onto something that involves killing trees, is out of date before it’s even printed in comparison to its online counterpart, and biggest sin of all, makes my hands all filthy? What makes us keep defending him?
I have often associated writing with dating…I don’t know why maybe I’m crazy... or just like writing too much, I can’t be sure. But when it comes to dating, I would never want to see Mr.Newspaper. Magazine is at least sleek and sexy, he’s sometimes out of touch but at least he’s unique. Mr.Book, please there’s just no getting rid of him. He’s a classic good looking guy. And Online…wow…he’s pretty much just the next big thing. The newest and freshest celebrity on the market, up to date, in style and constantly keeping you on your toes. How can Mr.Newspaper even stand a chance?
I think of Newspaper as an old guy, grey, a little (maybe a lot ) out of shape. Intelligent, wise, but not always entirely with it and sometimes a little sloppy. He’s like Sean Connery, in his prime he was great, everyone wanted him, but his audience is getting smaller… well okay unlike Sean, at least I can understand what Mr. Newspaper is trying to articulate. On the whole, however, I find myself agreeing with the idea that maybe his lifespan is coming to a close. Okay I realize we all knew this was going to happen, maybe I’m just a little late in catching on, but it does seem the end of an era…the only thing is I feel like its not my era.
I’m still inspired to feel a fit of nostalgia in this time of journalistic change – but really, to be entirely honest, I never really had a love affair or even a date with Mr. Newspaper. He’s getting old and I’ll respect what I can learn from him while he is around. But to be frank, his time is almost up.
Now if you’ll excuse me that’s Online at the door.
With ink all over my hands I realized…maybe I haven’t had such a great relationship with Mr. Newspaper. Maybe I haven’t had one at all…
I’ve never really liked reading newspapers, as a journalist looking to write for a magazine the writing style isn’t even a great passion of mine. I am not someone that likes to wake up in the morning sipping coffee, another friend I have not yet officially made, and get ink all over my hands. Even as a kid I was never into the cartoons. Quite frankly the paper Mr. Newspaper is printed on has always rubbed me the wrong way. It’s just a weird texture if you ask me. So I really think I started to have a journalistic crisis.
With so many later and greater ways to get our news, what keeps us holding onto something that involves killing trees, is out of date before it’s even printed in comparison to its online counterpart, and biggest sin of all, makes my hands all filthy? What makes us keep defending him?
I have often associated writing with dating…I don’t know why maybe I’m crazy... or just like writing too much, I can’t be sure. But when it comes to dating, I would never want to see Mr.Newspaper. Magazine is at least sleek and sexy, he’s sometimes out of touch but at least he’s unique. Mr.Book, please there’s just no getting rid of him. He’s a classic good looking guy. And Online…wow…he’s pretty much just the next big thing. The newest and freshest celebrity on the market, up to date, in style and constantly keeping you on your toes. How can Mr.Newspaper even stand a chance?
I think of Newspaper as an old guy, grey, a little (maybe a lot ) out of shape. Intelligent, wise, but not always entirely with it and sometimes a little sloppy. He’s like Sean Connery, in his prime he was great, everyone wanted him, but his audience is getting smaller… well okay unlike Sean, at least I can understand what Mr. Newspaper is trying to articulate. On the whole, however, I find myself agreeing with the idea that maybe his lifespan is coming to a close. Okay I realize we all knew this was going to happen, maybe I’m just a little late in catching on, but it does seem the end of an era…the only thing is I feel like its not my era.
I’m still inspired to feel a fit of nostalgia in this time of journalistic change – but really, to be entirely honest, I never really had a love affair or even a date with Mr. Newspaper. He’s getting old and I’ll respect what I can learn from him while he is around. But to be frank, his time is almost up.
Now if you’ll excuse me that’s Online at the door.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
The New Journalist’s Expanding Hat Stand
According to Ricardo Lopez of the Miami Herald, current and upcoming journalists are required to “wear many hats.” The time when a pen and paper cutting it is over and done with as we are launched fervently into tech savvy time period.
My warning to old school journalists: Watch out.
Call me crazy but I often get the feeling that older journalists like to look down their noses at us silly little “newbies,” even if just a little bit. They have, in the past, wanted to put the up and coming writers, photographers, and videographers in some assistant’s cubicle and forget about us for a few years. But we’re not having it.
The old cliché of a journalist being a guy in a trench with one of those goofy hats and a pencil behind his ear has changed a little bit. Now the current journalist wears sneakers, a backpack full of techie tools and approaches potential interviewees at a passionate jog, with release forms waving. Mid sentence we switch from photographer to videographer and back again. Our hats are a little goofier due to the fact that we’re probably wearing about five at a time.
No longer are we allowing ourselves to be forced into the cubicle, and be told to wait patiently for all the ones before us to die out or something – we’re taking to the streets. No longer is it necessary for us to start off in obits and hang out there for a few years while we wait for the story that’ll change our careers to just come along. Generation X – or are we Y? – is taking charge and taking the interviews.
U Tube, the internet in general and concepts like Current TV are allowing us the opportunity to tell the stories we want early on in our careers. We now have the chance to produce media packages of our own and let people actually see them. The time for suffering through ridiculous internships is over and done with as we take bigger steps over, around and above our older counterparts.
There’s been a bit of an upset in terms of the way things are done. We crazy rookies are refusing to “pay our dues” and are going right for the big time. We’re taking advantage of this online deal, and jamming all the latest and greatest hats on our heads all at once, with a ton of passion and for the simple reason: because we can.
My warning to old school journalists: Watch out.
Call me crazy but I often get the feeling that older journalists like to look down their noses at us silly little “newbies,” even if just a little bit. They have, in the past, wanted to put the up and coming writers, photographers, and videographers in some assistant’s cubicle and forget about us for a few years. But we’re not having it.
The old cliché of a journalist being a guy in a trench with one of those goofy hats and a pencil behind his ear has changed a little bit. Now the current journalist wears sneakers, a backpack full of techie tools and approaches potential interviewees at a passionate jog, with release forms waving. Mid sentence we switch from photographer to videographer and back again. Our hats are a little goofier due to the fact that we’re probably wearing about five at a time.
No longer are we allowing ourselves to be forced into the cubicle, and be told to wait patiently for all the ones before us to die out or something – we’re taking to the streets. No longer is it necessary for us to start off in obits and hang out there for a few years while we wait for the story that’ll change our careers to just come along. Generation X – or are we Y? – is taking charge and taking the interviews.
U Tube, the internet in general and concepts like Current TV are allowing us the opportunity to tell the stories we want early on in our careers. We now have the chance to produce media packages of our own and let people actually see them. The time for suffering through ridiculous internships is over and done with as we take bigger steps over, around and above our older counterparts.
There’s been a bit of an upset in terms of the way things are done. We crazy rookies are refusing to “pay our dues” and are going right for the big time. We’re taking advantage of this online deal, and jamming all the latest and greatest hats on our heads all at once, with a ton of passion and for the simple reason: because we can.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Journalists are people too...
Voting journalists?!? Are you insane?
Please note my use of sarcasm.
Here's the thing about journalists...we're also people. I cannot tell you the number of times I have had the discussion with my sister about journalistic bias. She is convinced that we remain a group of party pushers who live only for one candidate, issue or for one side of the spectrum.
"How ridiculous," I tell her.
Has anyone considered that we have more depth then that?!
Journalists, despite our best efforts at times, are people. Regular people with opinions and thoughts and views...about everything. From what we like to wear to the candidates we support, we just can't help it...we're a part of the human race too. Sorry to shock and disapoint.
The important thing to note is the difference between journalists and good journalists. Until someone steps behind an anchor desk, microphone, or sits down at a keyboard to convey news to a group of people with the assumption of an unbiased view resting on their shoulders, then their just people. But once they have their "journalist cap" on, pardon the use of a ridiculous image, then their opinions need to be null, their position neutral and their first loyalty should be to their readers. Good journalists understand that no one cares about their opinion.
Some blame Fox for being too conservative, others CNN for being too liberal. I blame the journalist that doesn't understand their job.
According to the USC Annenberg Online Journalism Review,
"If you are a writer promising them news, well then, the information that you deliver had better be accurate, complete and fresh to your audience."
Hit the nail on the head in my opinion.
What it comes down to is that people have opinions, journalists included. And until someone designs some journalistic robot to cruise around from interview to interview, we're just going to have to assume that there are journalists good enough to forget about their personal beliefs and present the news as it is meant to be. Unbiased, accurate and "fresh".
Taking away a journalists' right to vote is not only unconstitutional, in my opinion, but pointless. Refusing to let a journalist walk into the voting booth and cast a ballot is not going to stop them from presenting biased news to the public; only good training and a sense of integrity can do that.
Here's a thought, hire good journalists...and there we go.
Please note my use of sarcasm.
Here's the thing about journalists...we're also people. I cannot tell you the number of times I have had the discussion with my sister about journalistic bias. She is convinced that we remain a group of party pushers who live only for one candidate, issue or for one side of the spectrum.
"How ridiculous," I tell her.
Has anyone considered that we have more depth then that?!
Journalists, despite our best efforts at times, are people. Regular people with opinions and thoughts and views...about everything. From what we like to wear to the candidates we support, we just can't help it...we're a part of the human race too. Sorry to shock and disapoint.
The important thing to note is the difference between journalists and good journalists. Until someone steps behind an anchor desk, microphone, or sits down at a keyboard to convey news to a group of people with the assumption of an unbiased view resting on their shoulders, then their just people. But once they have their "journalist cap" on, pardon the use of a ridiculous image, then their opinions need to be null, their position neutral and their first loyalty should be to their readers. Good journalists understand that no one cares about their opinion.
Some blame Fox for being too conservative, others CNN for being too liberal. I blame the journalist that doesn't understand their job.
According to the USC Annenberg Online Journalism Review,
"If you are a writer promising them news, well then, the information that you deliver had better be accurate, complete and fresh to your audience."
Hit the nail on the head in my opinion.
What it comes down to is that people have opinions, journalists included. And until someone designs some journalistic robot to cruise around from interview to interview, we're just going to have to assume that there are journalists good enough to forget about their personal beliefs and present the news as it is meant to be. Unbiased, accurate and "fresh".
Taking away a journalists' right to vote is not only unconstitutional, in my opinion, but pointless. Refusing to let a journalist walk into the voting booth and cast a ballot is not going to stop them from presenting biased news to the public; only good training and a sense of integrity can do that.
Here's a thought, hire good journalists...and there we go.
Friday, February 8, 2008
...Awkward...
Does anyone remember when you had to actually interact with people? You would shop in malls. Have meetings in person. Go on real dates... And what ever happened to the letter by the way? Has it really been reduced to an impermanent totally intangible thing that floats around in cyberspace in the form of an email? What did people even do before eBay, and chat rooms and, perhaps most bizarre of all, online dating (yeesh)?
If the internet has one major downfall it is that it has made all of us a little socially handicapped. Am I the only one that has noticed a startlingly sharp increase in the use of the word awkward in the last few years? I'm not going to lie, I've fallen for it too, I'm the first to call myself awkward in any social situation. Awkward Turtle? What does that even mean?
Our culture is so technologically advanced we've socially exiled ourselves from one another. I can't tell you the number of people I know on Facebook and through emailing that I hardly speak to in person...its insane! The internet has literally become a little world where people can, creepily enough, be whoever it is they want to be.
What about reality?!?
But I digress...my point is it's important that journalists find a way to preserve the humanity of the internet. Keep things real, let people know that online interaction, while perhaps a little bizarre in the grand scheme of things, is actual human contact...in a new kind of way.
By incorporating pictures, audio and video in online stories, journalists are letting their audience know that the places, events, and most importantly of all, people, in their stories are real. If a picture's worth a thousand words, and a video is essentially a lot of moving picture, and you add to that words and sometimes audio as well- I think its safe to say we're doing all we can to keep it as real as possible.
We're appealing to emotions and after all, even if each of us across the globe is locked in a room by ourselves with inaccurate and incredibly skewed perceptions of who we really are due to lack of social interaction - we still have emotion. As long as we can keep that consistent in our writing, stir passion and feeling within our readers, then we should be okay. Awkward...but okay.
If the internet has one major downfall it is that it has made all of us a little socially handicapped. Am I the only one that has noticed a startlingly sharp increase in the use of the word awkward in the last few years? I'm not going to lie, I've fallen for it too, I'm the first to call myself awkward in any social situation. Awkward Turtle? What does that even mean?
Our culture is so technologically advanced we've socially exiled ourselves from one another. I can't tell you the number of people I know on Facebook and through emailing that I hardly speak to in person...its insane! The internet has literally become a little world where people can, creepily enough, be whoever it is they want to be.
What about reality?!?
But I digress...my point is it's important that journalists find a way to preserve the humanity of the internet. Keep things real, let people know that online interaction, while perhaps a little bizarre in the grand scheme of things, is actual human contact...in a new kind of way.
By incorporating pictures, audio and video in online stories, journalists are letting their audience know that the places, events, and most importantly of all, people, in their stories are real. If a picture's worth a thousand words, and a video is essentially a lot of moving picture, and you add to that words and sometimes audio as well- I think its safe to say we're doing all we can to keep it as real as possible.
We're appealing to emotions and after all, even if each of us across the globe is locked in a room by ourselves with inaccurate and incredibly skewed perceptions of who we really are due to lack of social interaction - we still have emotion. As long as we can keep that consistent in our writing, stir passion and feeling within our readers, then we should be okay. Awkward...but okay.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
My Major Problem with Journalism - Solved
Here's my thing about journalism. I love getting my information in a straight forward, no nonsense, just facts sort of way. I think it is, obviously, the most effective method of communicating to the masses: leave the personality out of it, just the skeleton, the minimalist approach.
However my writing, when it comes down to it, is anything but no nonsense. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that I am one of the rare, or perhaps not so rare, hybrids. I am both a journalist and a creative writer - call me an oxymoron if you wish, I'm sure some journalists would even consider leaving that first bit - oxy - off entirely, but I can't help it. I happen to like playing with words, you know let them run a little free, make puns and jokes and even sometimes a, God forbid, run on sentence here or there? Punc.tuation in strange places. I kind of delight in the chaos of things like that. It makes me crack up a little bit.
So here's my problem, what if I want to be a different kind of journalist? What if I get bored of the inverted pyramid, and the formula, and the way things have been done since forever? What if I want to write intelligent things and still have fun with it?
THE BLOG!
It is a lot like the perfect combination. I can say anything I want, opinion or straight forward or a little of both. Alright I won't get paid for it. And okay no one is really getting hard news from me. But it sure is fun to write...and read!!!
"OK, ya'll get to decide whether Beltway Blogroll has been a good blog, but it is coming to an end," writes Danny Glover of Beltway Blogroll.
Hark what is this? A serious and intelligent writer using the term "ya'll"? How thrilling! I would love to use improper English in my writing. How sensationally edgy of him! He still seems smart, he still has a point. He is still entirely credible. But he is using slang? Well that would never fly outside the safe confines of a blog - or perhaps in an opinion piece. Still - haha - we've got them fooled now.
Blog: (noun) Denoting a safe haven for journalists, creative writers, and amateurs to let their words run wild; fun writing; intelligent and kooky.
I'm sold.
However my writing, when it comes down to it, is anything but no nonsense. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that I am one of the rare, or perhaps not so rare, hybrids. I am both a journalist and a creative writer - call me an oxymoron if you wish, I'm sure some journalists would even consider leaving that first bit - oxy - off entirely, but I can't help it. I happen to like playing with words, you know let them run a little free, make puns and jokes and even sometimes a, God forbid, run on sentence here or there? Punc.tuation in strange places. I kind of delight in the chaos of things like that. It makes me crack up a little bit.
So here's my problem, what if I want to be a different kind of journalist? What if I get bored of the inverted pyramid, and the formula, and the way things have been done since forever? What if I want to write intelligent things and still have fun with it?
THE BLOG!
It is a lot like the perfect combination. I can say anything I want, opinion or straight forward or a little of both. Alright I won't get paid for it. And okay no one is really getting hard news from me. But it sure is fun to write...and read!!!
"OK, ya'll get to decide whether Beltway Blogroll has been a good blog, but it is coming to an end," writes Danny Glover of Beltway Blogroll.
Hark what is this? A serious and intelligent writer using the term "ya'll"? How thrilling! I would love to use improper English in my writing. How sensationally edgy of him! He still seems smart, he still has a point. He is still entirely credible. But he is using slang? Well that would never fly outside the safe confines of a blog - or perhaps in an opinion piece. Still - haha - we've got them fooled now.
Blog: (noun) Denoting a safe haven for journalists, creative writers, and amateurs to let their words run wild; fun writing; intelligent and kooky.
I'm sold.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Taking the Reporter out of Reporting
I was watching the news this morning, and I have to go ahead and say I was little bit distracted by the person telling me what was going on. It was seven in the morning and all I wanted to know was if anything interesting was happening in the world while I ate my cereal...that was all. But I have to tell you I don't remember, as I was entirely distracted by the seafoam blue power suit the woman with the toothy grin was wearing while she tried to tell me what I wanted to know. My question is: If she wants me to listen to her why is her suit shouting at me so I can't hear?
"Edit yourselves. Think of your audience," that is what Suzanne Levinson, the Director of Site Operations, at the Miami Herald had to say.
What a novel idea. What a truly interesting and refreshing perspective. Think of your audience? But what about The Pulitzer? And the byline? And the front page?
WHAT ABOUT THE RECOGNITION???
"Online, we don't want to listen to someone's talking head," Levinson later commented.
And here we have it ladies and gentlemen, the answer to the shocking powersuit, toothy grin, and enormously inappropriate hairstyle. Online.
Imagine a way for people to get their information quickly and without the interuption of a journalist's ego? Imagine! A constantly changing, insistiantly updating form of communication that allows a reader to get to the information they need or want, as opposed to the information they are going to get whether they like it or not. A place where people can read about, hear about, and see about what's going on in the world at their leisure. They want to read? Let the people read! They want to listen to audio? Play away! Watch a short clip? There you have it, go ahead and watch! A slide show, you say? We'll even let you control it!
And the greatest part of all, an immediate opportunity to interact! Write on a message board, send an email to the writer, respond to another viewer's thoughts or comments. Levinson commented on the "amazing outpouring of legitimate conversation," that becomes available when people, not just journalists, get together online and respond to one another's thoughts and ideas. People start thinking as opposed to just listening, its amazing!!!
No more angry loud blue suits. No more insistent bylines and enlarged egos. Just the information the people need, available in the form they want it.
I've got to say, this online thing sounds as if it's worth the effort it will take to make the transition.
Oh and about the recognition? What about the recognition?
"Edit yourselves. Think of your audience," that is what Suzanne Levinson, the Director of Site Operations, at the Miami Herald had to say.
What a novel idea. What a truly interesting and refreshing perspective. Think of your audience? But what about The Pulitzer? And the byline? And the front page?
WHAT ABOUT THE RECOGNITION???
"Online, we don't want to listen to someone's talking head," Levinson later commented.
And here we have it ladies and gentlemen, the answer to the shocking powersuit, toothy grin, and enormously inappropriate hairstyle. Online.
Imagine a way for people to get their information quickly and without the interuption of a journalist's ego? Imagine! A constantly changing, insistiantly updating form of communication that allows a reader to get to the information they need or want, as opposed to the information they are going to get whether they like it or not. A place where people can read about, hear about, and see about what's going on in the world at their leisure. They want to read? Let the people read! They want to listen to audio? Play away! Watch a short clip? There you have it, go ahead and watch! A slide show, you say? We'll even let you control it!
And the greatest part of all, an immediate opportunity to interact! Write on a message board, send an email to the writer, respond to another viewer's thoughts or comments. Levinson commented on the "amazing outpouring of legitimate conversation," that becomes available when people, not just journalists, get together online and respond to one another's thoughts and ideas. People start thinking as opposed to just listening, its amazing!!!
No more angry loud blue suits. No more insistent bylines and enlarged egos. Just the information the people need, available in the form they want it.
I've got to say, this online thing sounds as if it's worth the effort it will take to make the transition.
Oh and about the recognition? What about the recognition?
Monday, January 28, 2008
These Crazy Things Called Blogs
I have always considered myself a writer, sometimes a journalist, but never, until now, a blogger. Interesting that such a new term has become a noun and a verb in such a short amount of time. Though not an entirely unexpected progression given the Internets' explosion into our ego driven world. Imagine a place where anyone can say anything they want and someone, somewhere will read it. Though I suppose they can be more then that, depending on who is writing them. Above and beyond the realm of Perez Hilton and his celeb-obsessed verbal meanderings, blogs have become something of an intellectual haven for people interested in virtually, pardon the pun, anything.
From sports to news to anything else imaginable, there are blogs written by eager bloggers on an array of topics - some important, others less so, depending on the opinion of the reader and writer. What used to be a media through which adolescents could purge their souls to strangers and friends, is now a valuable resource for professionals, intellectuals, eager students and seekers of knowledge across the globe.
Upon closer examination, and with a little encouragement in the form of a graded class, I have come to terms with the use of blogs and am even a little proud to say: My name is Heather, and I am now a blogger.
From sports to news to anything else imaginable, there are blogs written by eager bloggers on an array of topics - some important, others less so, depending on the opinion of the reader and writer. What used to be a media through which adolescents could purge their souls to strangers and friends, is now a valuable resource for professionals, intellectuals, eager students and seekers of knowledge across the globe.
Upon closer examination, and with a little encouragement in the form of a graded class, I have come to terms with the use of blogs and am even a little proud to say: My name is Heather, and I am now a blogger.
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