Way back in high school I took course to be on the newspaper- it seemed like the better alternative to any other elective. There was a group of girls that I wasn't particulary fond of, and yes they were the popular ones. But what really got me was how bad everyone wanted to be like them. It was a well known fact that they were all addicted to diet pills. As a result diet pills became the new fad for 17 year old girls at my school. I found this strangely disturbing. I wrote an article about the dangers of diet pills for the paper and got it published. The way they glared at me the next day made me realize that I loved journalism, and I was hooked from then on. I went on to write an article about teen drinking, after I went to a party that year and saw 15 year old girls drinking themselves to oblivion, and throwing up in bushes- only to brag about how cool they were the next week at school. I don't have an agenda but I found out in high school that there are some disturbing things going on in our society and people need to know about them.
Journalism is vital to democracy and I like the idea of doing my civic duty. I value the freedom that we have in this country to publish opinions and ideas without being killed for them. Most of all I love seeing whats going on in the world with my own eyes, and the atmosphere of a news room. I love the eclectic array of people who are journalist, and the flow of ideas as well as mayhem in a news room. I love working against a deadline and feeling so stressed out that my head might explode- and the rewards of seeing my finished product the next day.
There are so many changes going on in the industry- and that's what excites me most. I think convergence is the best thing to happen to journalism since the printing press.
No comments:
Post a Comment