Posts Tagged ‘Newspaper’
The reason why newspapers are failing
They are too darn slow.
And the reason why they haven’t transitioned to online yet?
Because they’re still only worried about print deadlines and don’t care to hurry up and write a brief to get it on the Web site.
Meanwhile, the student newspaper was all over the shooting that happened on campus. They had a story up within 15 or 20 minutes. Students were Twittering and Facebooking and already had the whole story on these various social networks while the guys at the biggest newspaper in the region were ordering McDonalds. As all this was happinging, I sat here at my desk for more than an hour and a half after the event occurred, and I waited for a brief to put on the Web site. I had the new article set up; I had a photo courtesy a fellow freelance student journalist totally ready to go up with the theoretical story. And I waited.
I even wrote this blog post before they got me an article.
That’s why newspapers are dying. Or dead. Whatever.
Abducted from JMC 215
Today, as I was working on my print design tech quiz, I was removed from class and taken to a room filled with Russian journalists, all speaking Russian, of course. They wanted to know about college journalism in the US and how it covered/affected the recent election of Barack Obama (Hurray!). However, after a few questions about the election, it morphed into an interrogation, and I was trying desperately to defend my own journalistic experiences and education. It was a little frightening, and I wound up offending someone (I don’t know who he is or why he was there) who used to work for the Daily Nebraskan. Whoops. I said the Creightonian had better opportunities for students to have a bigger role on staff and implement changes in the paper because it’s smaller than UNL’s publication. I also mentioned how, though I’m biased, I like the Creightonian better than Lincoln’s paper. Then he made a snide comment about how the Creightonian is a mere weekly, so I figure we’re even.
Anyway, back to the Russians.
Apparently journalism students in Russia get “on-the-job” training after their first year in college. The Russian journalists seemed surprised by the fact that at Creighton most students don’t get jobs or internships until their junior or senior year. At that point, I was very glad that I could at least say I have a job with a major local publication even though I haven’t had an internship yet (because it’s currently the fall semester of my sophomore year – I have plenty of time). Then the head of the department piped in with all the PR for Creighton, emphasising how CU journalism students get a converged educational experience and lots of opportunities for internships. Then she brought up how Creighton presented a session at the National College Media Convention last week. I then notified her that I was one of the students who went to KC and said my two to three sentences during the presentation. So I got to explain to the Russians a little bit about our CMS and the culture change issues that come with an American college newspaper’s transition to online media. Exciting stuff. Shortly after that, Ellis and I excused ourselves from the interview so we could get back to class. I was disappointed that I missed the day on Final Cut Pro because I’ve never used the program before. Video is pretty much the only type of media I haven’t really tried to do yet. So hopefully I’m not too far behind for next week.
My very first day at a real job
At 2:51 p.m. yesterday, I was standing outside the revolving doors of a big corporate building downtown. I gripped my brand new, snazzy ID in my hand, and I strode up to the entrance, trying to avoid any puddles so as to not ruin my spiffy new heels or splash anything on my really awesome NY&C outfit. I walked in. To my delight, my ID worked, and I was successfully in the building on my own accord. I wasn’t there for an interview. I didn’t have to wait. No one signed me in. It was a beautifully liberating experience, or at least it was as liberating as using an ID to get through a security gate can be. Anywho, I took an elevator up to the seventh floor, and when I swiped my ID to get into the newsroom, the door actually unlocked. I almost felt like a legit employee; I almost felt like I belonged…The feeling didn’t last long. I was reminded of lowly status when I walked to the online editors and noticed the sticky note on a file cabinet that marked “Julia’s drawer.” I was surrounded by the entire newspaper staff, sitting in their very homey-looking cubicles, and I don’t even get a chair. Alas, at least I have something to look aspire to. After putting my purse, coat and notebook in my drawer, I began my training on the CMS, a very clunky tool, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it soon. As of right now, I am officially trained to upload articles and photos, create basic slideshows and write news briefs for the Web site. Tonight I get to learn how to make fancy slideshows for sports photos, which probably means I should brush up on my football lingo. They score points with home runs, right?*
So that was my very first day at a real job. Two hours down, more to go tonight. I sure wish they used the Adobe Creative Suite at work. It’s a strange feeling to go from knowing the ins and outs of Photoshop to using the very limited “brightness/contrast” option in Microsoft Photo Editor. It was a little bit painful, but I’m sure I’ll get used to that, too. And at least I don’t have to work at the campus library at 7 a.m. anymore! Hurray!
*That was supposed to be funny. As clueless as I am about sports, I do know that home runs don’t happen in football. They happen in soccer.**
**Or hockey***
***I mean baseball. No worries.
