The Biased Journalist - A Blogger?

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 :)

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…

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.