As a student of journalism, I am currently analyzing the field and how I am going to fit into it. I enjoy the classic view of the newspaper man who rushes around to follow leads and expose scandals, but the words "newspaper man" are seldom paired together anymore. The idea of what journalism was is now undergoing a massive overhaul and the industry may never look the same again. Because I am only in my early twenties, I have not been around long enough to have a life long attachment to having my fingers inked up after cracking open the morning paper. This is what many are trying to hold on to, but it is slipping away at a faster rate than ever. Personally, I like to embrace the change that is happening, and I think that it will better our ability to give the news to the people. Breaking news stories do not have to wait a day or more to be published; they can now be put up instantaneously on a news site for all of the world to see. While there are many downsides to this transition as well, it is something I am going to have to deal with if this is what I want to do with my life, which brings me to the purpose of this class.
If I am going to keep up as a journalist in a multimedia environment, I will now need an entire artillery of weapons to look attractive to serious news outlets. I see English 417 as a way to embrace what I am going to be facing post-graduation. I want to learn how to set up a website, write in a way that will attract readers while still maintaining credibility, understand how the design of a news page will change from print to online, and many other areas. I am coming at this class from a journalistic standpoint. While I have taken classes in tech writing and it is a part of my major, journalism is where my passion is and that is where I would like to concentrate my efforts. I am looking for this class to further my understanding of the digital revolution and how I am going to be a part of it.
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Dan,
ReplyDeleteThere's no reason there can't be a strong blend of old and new in journalism. There is plenty of the old, traditional, journalism that stands as the foundation for the new. Read the best there is, but don't try to mimic it. Work on your basics - writing inverted pyramid news. Get good - and fast - at those basics and you'll be well on your way to getting somewhere in the newspaper world! Whatever that world looks like.
Dan,
ReplyDeleteOn another note. I would stay away from metaphors using military terms. I've heard heated debates in newsrooms about terms like these:
Battled up and down the field
Dug trenches on each side of the issue
Need an artillery of weapons (yours)
etc,...
It's best to stay away from them. War is serious business. And we're in one (or two depending on how you count them) right now.