Jeff Cohen...is a superstar.

Having Jeff come to the class on Tuesday was a total eye opener.  As I approach graduation and the horrific fact that I actually have to grow up and do something with my life, I realize that my goals and ideas of where I'll be are constantly changing.  Big corporate media is always the aspiration of budding journalists.  We want to be the next Katie Couric or the next staff writer of the New York Times.  We're jaded by the fame and the desk at 30 Rock and all of the flashy parts of big media.  But we forget the base of the job...real reporting and journalism.  The idea that a corporation would silence or restrict the work I do, or compromise my journalistic integrity like they did to Jeff, is appalling.  Independent media is looking better by the second.  It's a journalists rebellion! Digging up real stories, uncovering and exposing problems, working to solutions, all while sticking it to the man.  I might have found my niche.  I guess we'll see.  I am saddened that my Cinderella dream of becoming the next Joan London or Barbara Walters isn't as fairly tale as I thought.  But I am excited by the new possibilities and all that digital and independent media has to offer.   Hopefully there's a place waiting for me somewhere...

Tabloidization...

I fully believe that there is a place for celebrity news, gossip, and all things Hollywood. But not on the pages of some of the most respected newspapers and news programs we have. I'm all about information. Celebrity news is information whether we like to believe it or not and it belongs in tabloids and little flimsy papers you find at the checkout of the supermarket. Newspapers are the place where the public should be getting the information they NEED to know, not necessarily what they WANT to know. I agree with the article in the CJR that if newspapers want to take on pop culture, do it in an educational and informative way by looking at cause and effect on our society. Journalists are supposed to help people make responsible decisions, be good citizens, and to understand the world around them through information that we dig up and often analyze and put together. The things that end up on the pages of tabloids don't really fit the mold. So go ahead New York Times, take on pop culture, but don't see it and spit it back at us. Look for trends, study cause and effect, and try to remember our purpose, otherwise, you're no more credible than the STAR.

Agenda Setting

Agenda setting in the news industry is so frustrating to me!  The part that really gets me is that fact that I feel so helpless, that there is so little I can do and that the whole field of journalism is plagued by it.  Agenda setting is dangerous.  If journalists, editors, and makers of news media aren't careful with what they present and how they present it, they can create a whole different version of the truth that can cloud the perception of an audience.  But the problem is that we can't put everything on the front page and we can't even cover every problem an every event that happens in a day due to lack of resources.  So do we just give up?? I hope to see a smaller gap between what's important to the public and what is displayed in the news.  The only way to make this work is to ignore the financial pressures and executives and use the passion we have for the people we cover to put out what is important to them.  News should be service, not a product.  But we can't do it alone.  I think people in the news industry right now need to re-evaluate why they're here. 

A Year in the News

The article "A Year in the News" from the Project for Excellence in Journalism was an eye opener for me when it comes to the state of the industry and journalism as a whole. A few things stuck in my mind after reading it that are absolutely appalling to me. First of all, the fact that the number of stories in the news agenda is shrinking is dangerous for everyone. Journalistic stories need legs. When something happens, be it tragedy or war or triumph, the event itself is important but more important is how we got there and what can be done to prevent the bad and succeed in the future. It's the stories that follow big events in history that could lead us on the right path. Another thing that bothered me is the lack of attention that the news industry is paying to the information needs and wants of their audience. When I saw the graph of audience interest to coverage, I can't help but ask why?? I understand that advertising is important and the world turns by money but we have to go to the roots of our profession and realize why we do what we do. We are supposed to inform, educate, be a voice to the ordinary citizen, and work to make life better through understanding and information. If we lose sight of the stories that are important to the people we serve, we'll lose everything. I could go on forever I suppose, but dinner time calls! More next time...