Thursday, February 19, 2009

I Should Have Studied Medicine


Journalism is the career I want and I always had a feeling I would be poor as an adult. With all the new media and technology that is used for communication, I really feel that my subconscious is going to be correct after all.

To find a job that is unrelated to medicine, law, or education is difficult. Now that I think of it, I should have listened to my parents when they said “medicine is where the money is at.” I should have studied medicine. But it’s not my passion and probably never will be.

To type—because face it, does anyone ever actually WRITE in a journal anymore—is soothing for me. Yet, writing is universal; communication is essential; progress is inevitable. New forms of media and citizen journalism have just completely altered my job.

Citizen journalism, the term we were asked to research, is every person’s ability to communicate news information through the same mediums that many journalists use. This includes the use of blogs and social networking sites like Facebook. However, the main idea behind citizen journalism is that it presents information from a point of view that only certain people have been able to experience and therefore, can report accurately. I believe this is a very accurate point, but wouldn’t that mean that citizens could misconstrue information because of the angle or perspective the journalists uses to communicate the facts?

The Citizen Journalism Academy, directed by the Society of Professional Journalists, is aimed at helping people learn how to communicate news information the way a journalist does. These people receive training in journalistic ethics, the basics of media law, access to records, standard journalistic practices, and the use of technology in journalism.

Ironic, isn’t it? Journalists are giving others the tools to do the very jobs they have strived to perfect, but I assume that this way is more responsible. What would happen if citizen journalism took over the media and these journalists reported exactly the way they wanted? Just through objectivity out the window. Because, let’s face it, we’re all biased! And in more ways than one.

However, citizen journalism will probably become as popular as Wikipedia. Just as Wikipedia is an online source of virtually any subject that could possibly ever want to be researched, citizen journalism will become just as common, acceptable and at times encouraged. Don’t get me wrong; I use Wikipedia just as much as the next person because it’s fast and easy—a weakness of mine—but, just as Wikipedia can be altered to relate incorrect information, citizen journalism can communicate false “facts.”

On the other hand, I have to say, that this person who coined the term “citizen journalism” and pushed for its increase is brilliant. A true Gatejumper I would say. Forget newspapers that take 24 hours to publish stories. We want info NOW!!!

Yes, citizen journalism means we can all contribute to the gathering and distribution of news, but where lies the art of the pen? Well, I’m out of a job…and I haven’t even finished my B.A. yet.



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