Staying Jolly today, tomorrow, and the next day

[View the story “Mason Homecoming Going Strong” on Storify]

When I first became interested in journalism last semester, I didn’t really know what to expect. I had always appreciated the newspapers and broadcast outlets as sources for true and important information.

As a photographer, I say to myself with my head in the clouds, “THAT’S where I want my work to go. That’s the top of the town and the best around.” But now, throughout many a conversation, that outlook looks worse by the day.

For class, we were asked to read a blog post by Washington Post staff writer and blogger Joel Achenbach titled “I Really Need You to Read This Article, Okay?” In it, he provides a detailed description of the state of print vs. online journalism.

Anchenbach said that print is referred to as “the dead-tree edition” and that online, the journalism business is becoming marketing, a fight for page-views.

The article is a bit disappointing to read from someone who wants to go into the journalism industry. I don’t find things wrong as a writer, because I know that isn’t my strong point. It is advantageous to me to know that online is becoming the future faster and faster.

With the rise of online journalism comes a need for the backpack, all-in-one journalist. Someone who can produce not only a written portion, but his or her own media. That media could range from a brief and a photo to an 1000 word-plus story and a video. Media packages will be my strong point in this industry.

Where I see this rise in online vs. print the most is in Mason’s Student Media. More and more, as I ask around, I find people switching to Connect2Mason.com, at least to see the videos whereas with Broadside, people are enticed by the pictures and will maybe read the articles.

There is no split between the two organizations, but to see what people consume is eye-opening. I’m glad I read articles like these and listen to conversations on the current state of the journalism industry. More and more, I’m gaining the confidence to work harder to be where I want to be.

My Media Pyramid

Recently for class, we were asked to post our “Media Pyramid”. The pyramid displayed below shows my consumption of media with the bottom being the most I consume and the top being the least.

The concept comes from an article originally printed in the St. Petersburg Times. It is best described in the article by journalism professor Dietram Scheufele as “A media diet is much like a real diet….mix the different food groups.”