The beginning: what a very nice place to start

As I read through chapters one, two, and three in News Reporting and Writing I had this strange feeling of déjà vu. As I turned each page the information seemed like something that I’d read through before. It dawned on me: I read this almost a year ago at the beginning of Intro. to Journalism. Yes, I had read this before, but for some reason it seemed kind of liberating to have the straight facts of journalism handed to me. And what could be more journalistic than delivering the un-altered facts to a half-attentive audience?

Anyway, as I was reading along I came across the criteria for news: relevance, usefulness, and interest. These three terms would seem self-explanatory but I think they almost make the selection of news more difficult. At least it seems to me that news is something you just feel. It’s in your gut that you’ve been let in on a morsel of information that should be shared. And well, most people aren’t about to go around peddling some half-baked cookies or moldy bread. As a journalist I take pride in knowing that I’ve gotten the whole story in a timely manner and it’s been fully developed and is going to sustain the audience’s need for the nourishment of information.

Okay, analogies aside, another thing that stuck out to me was the book’s description of accuracy and fairness. I really liked Bob Woodward’s definition of truth. “The best obtainable version of the truth” seems like a poignant way to address daily trials that journalist face while attempting to ‘get the whole story.’ I think truth is a goal that journalist work towards but perfection isn’t always achievable.

Chapter two seemed like “everything you can do in journalism- 101”. The writers’ efforts—though commendable—did little to put my career stability fears at rest. Maybe this anxiety stems from my internal struggle with what type of journalism I want to go into after school. I couldn’t help but wonder as I was reading along how in the world my four years of training here at Ithaca College can possibly prepare me for the ever-changing, ever-conglomerating media 10 years from now. Maybe I’ll just choose a media based on my affection for procrastination and go into the magazine business though daily newspapers or broadcast news would certainly put a halt to my destructive behavior.

Online news scares me. It’s one thing to know that thousands of people will be reading your words or seeing your video but millions…even billions? That’s just crazy. It’s also quite amazing and honoring. Few other professions can say that they reach millions on a daily basis. Whoa.

A smidge about interviewing: Be a nice, be poised, be confident, and be attentive. I’ve never really had a problem interviewing strangers because I’ve always been able to connect with those I’ve needed to interview. Also, I tend to be an inquisitive person so questions tend to pop into my head because the interview triggers other issues I’d like addressed.

Finally, the punctuation guide was a nice refresher course on some of the particulars of grammar and sentence formatting. I love punctuation. Basically I’m drawn to it because it’s one of the only ways to add the depth of voice to writing. My main dilemma is keeping “hyphen” and “dash” straight but it’ll come with practice I’m sure.