The Struggle is real

Since my brain is basically dead and I can’t form full paragraphs, this is a list of my thoughts about today and my GA shift.

1. Whoa the newsroom was slow. You know it’s a bad day when Allie is praying for something weird to happen so we have a story.,

2. Everyone in the newsroom felt like yelling today. Why was that a thing

3. Liz bought me coffee today. That was cool and also thank you.

4. The barista asked if I wanted an extra shot for free because I looked so tired. Womp

5. I did a life story and the guy was really nice. I always appreciate when people are nice when I’m just trying to do my job.

6. Writing nut grafs is hard. 30 minutes later and I’m still staring at my screen

7. I really hate the chairs in the newsroom. Could you be an more uncomfortable?

8. Liz doesn’t think I’m dumb. Whooooo

9. Fingers crossed I didn’t get a parking ticket.

10. Last GA shift!!!!!

Whooooo done!

Finals are officially over for me. Granted I still have things to finish up in News Reporting but the nightmare of 3 tests in 18 hours is finally over. With the end of year approaching, I’m amazed at how fast junior year just went. It has probably been one of the hardest years I’ve had to deal with but I feel like I’ve also grown immensely as a journalist and as a person. I’m bittersweet about starting my senior year but also excited to begin my new phase of classes.

Onward and upward… but also ready to go home and hug my mom.

 

The Pros and Cons of Being Silent

I lost my voice from Sunday-Tuesday and it taught me a little about the world, not only about communication but our absolute reliance on voice. So here is my list of the greatest things and also the most terrible things about being voiceless.

Con: Everyone thinks you’re being rude

You don’t realize how much you say ‘hi’ to people on campus or ‘thank you’ to people who open the door for you, until you can’t. Got a lot of nasty looks and felt horrible about it. I swear it wasn’t personal everyone. I was whispering thank you, you just couldn’t hear me.

 

 

Pro: You have a really good excuse not to talk to people you want to avoid

Sometimes I don’t want to say anything and now I have the perfect excuse.

 

Con: Sometimes you do want to say something and are totally screwed

For example, in your last reporting class when you actually have something important to say and have to sit there in annoyed silence.

 

Pro: Your face looks way better

Apparently talking all the time strains your face because my face is looking good after not talking. My face has never been more relaxed in my entire life.

 

Con: You can’t order food

You know what restaurants require? A voice. I basically almost starved because I had no food in my house and couldn’t go anywhere to order things. I survived on Jimmy John’s delivery. They are probably super familiar with my name now… 3 days in a row later.

 

Bottom line:  The cons are kinda way worse than the pros. I totally feel for the pirate without a tongue in Pirates of the Caribbean.

 

All about Pandas

All about Pandas

First of all, I’m going to make this a short post but I wanted to share this article for two reasons.

1. Would you dress up in a panda suit to write a story and get photos of a panda?

2. The answer should be yes because pandas are awesome. Anything to the contrary would be blasphemy. I mean look at that panda…

But this article is actually pretty cool at describing the methods of reporting and research. Shows what great lengths some people go for the benefit of science and preservation. 

Happy 10th Birthday Mean Girls!

Happy 10th Birthday Mean Girls!

Maybe this isn’t very “super serious journalist” of me but I’m going to do it anyway. Mean Girls is my childhood and I can’t believe that it was released 10 years ago. Not only does that make me feel old but also a little sad that the world has changed so much as seen in this article. Although I’m happy for the many advancements we’ve had since then, I’m also a little nostalgic for a time when things were a little simpler, even if that was just in my life.

Plus Mean Girls is just so fetch….Sorry it’s a classic for me. I don’t care what you say I’ll always think it’s cinematic gold.

 

Curiosity May have Killed the Cat but Not the Journalist

One thing that I’ve really found this semester from both my own experiences and what Liz has said, is that every journalist who isn’t curious shouldn’t be a journalist. It is one of the many defining factors that often sets up apart. Some people are happy just living their life not asking questions but a journalist is always asking why. It is the reason why I find myself reading a news article, looking up someone’s name in the article and 3 hours later ending up on a webpage about the AIM (American Indian Revolution) with no clear idea how I got there.

I’ve always believed that knowledge is power. And although I think it’s impossible to know a lot about everything, I would like to know a little about a lot. I find that digging deeper into subjects or people that you find interesting can be very rewarding and also make you, in turn, more interesting. No one truly likes people who know nothing. Or at least no one that I care to acquaint myself with. Curiosity is the reason that great journalism pieces are written because the journalist was curious enough to ask some questions.

But why is the rum gone?

Yesterday on GA, Elise and I managed to write a lede that incorporated Jack Sparrow and it was awesome. That fact aside, I’m actually very happy with how the story turned out. It was about how the local winery is launching a craft distillate brand that features a variety of rum, vodka and gin.

Les Bourgeois winery, Jonny Ver Planck distillery launch craft rum – Columbia Missourian

I really enjoyed doing this story because I was able to learn about a process that I knew nothing about and talk to people who are passionate about it. I think this story is closer to the kinds of things I hope to be doing once I graduate. I found it funny that yesterday that everyone else had painfully serious stories to complete and I was sitting in the story learning about how rum is made. It’s the weirdest and also greatest thing about journalism.

 

The Difference

Today after meeting with Liz, it made me reflect on some of the differences between this semester and last. We spent today combining my work into one page so it would be a more complete portfolio of work. And going through those old stories made me realize how little I really did last semester. I don’t want to say that I had nothing good because I did. But I’ve done almost double the work I did last semester and I did it well before the end of the semester. I also feel like I’m growing more as a journalist, as cliche as that sounds.

The final push of the semester is in the next few weeks and I really hope that I can finish strong. I’ve really enjoyed reporting this time and I’ve learned so much. A strong finish would be a perfect ending to such a great learning experience. 

Why is No One Worried?!

One of the many issues with a 24 hour news cycle is that some stories seem to just slip through the cracks or at least don’t get the attention they should. For example, this ebola outbreak in Africa right now. Although I’m very interested in the status of Flight 370, there are other things that are happening. I feel like I get updates every 2 hours from CNN about new findings about the flight but no one seems to be paying real attention to this problem in Liberia and Guinea.

I found one article but had to hunt for it on CNN about this and I think the world needs to be paying more attention. If ebola starts to spread outside of these countries, it would be the new plague. It kills 90% of those infected and spreads very easily. If anyone else read the The Hot Zone by Richard Preston in high school, you know how absolutely deadly ebola can be if it starts spreading from country to country. And yet CNN has barely a page on it. I think that priorities need to start being re-evaluated and coverage needs to be more even as of late. 

 

Remembering Columbine : A Reflection on Good Journalism

Meant to post this on Monday but it got saved to my drafts instead. My apologies for its slightly delayed newsworthy-ness but I have some comments to add from lecture today anyway. 

The shooting at Columbine happened when I was 6 years old, meaning that I knew almost nothing about it when it happened. In fact, I don’t even remember hearing about it, most likely because my parents shielded me from it. Therefore, I’ve grown up with very little knowledge of the shooting. Last week was the 15th anniversary of the shooting and Time re-released their magazine article on it, The Littleton Massacre… In Sorrow and Disbelief.

It was quite an undertaking because it was by no means short (nor should it have been) but I was absolutely shocked by the level of detail and beautiful language about something so tragic. I think the author Nancy Gibbs took a nightmare situation and treated it with dignity. I understood the horror that those students experienced.

Today, Hampton Stevens said something that I think fully captures why I enjoyed this piece so much. Hampton said that he thinks good journalism is good writing, that he enjoys precise language rather than just a well-reported story or life-changing subject. Not to say that those things aren’t important but that he appreciates journalism that are ultimately a great demonstration of prose.

I think that The Littleton Massacre… In Sorrow and Disbelief combines both great writing and a life-changing subject, which is hard to do. I imagine it being rather difficult to capture this spectrum of a tragedy with the intense amount of coverage this must have received at the time.

I also want to mention something else Hampton said, which is that he enjoys journalism that “moves” him and to this, I connect with perfectly. Someone can write a perfect story that’s well-sourced, well-reported, accurate and ethical. But if it doesn’t move me in some physical or emotional way, it will just get lost in the sea of my brain that is constantly being filled with new stories. It’s stories like these that I will remember 2,5,10 years from now when I reflect on great journalism.