Between broadcasting my breakfast choices on Twitter and watching the real-time feed of the governmental hearing into the ‘future of journalism,’ I decided to take a reporter position at a small-town newspaper.
Yes, I’m talking about a physical paper. Subscriptions go out to approximately 10,000 readers, six days a week. It has printing presses in the back, for crying out loud.
For all the soon-to-be UCSD grads, regardless of major, the basics should always take precedence over the newest techie fads. Those who are bound for careers in science must retain the fundamental lab skills of pipetting, titration and the proper use of Bunsen burners to attract employers.
Even those going into technology-based fields should have their CSS fundamentals intact before they can enter a career that builds on that initial computer knowledge.
Yes, the paper I’ll be working for has an online version. No, it’s not that much different than the print version. But that doesn’t mean the community won’t use it to take the neighborhood’s pulse every week.
Sure, when I see an article online, I want a graph, a related photo and pertinent links to previous articles. The demand for sophisticated presentation is growing and reporting has begun to encompass everything that traditional journalism always had, and more.
But working for a small-time paper doesn’t contradict my views on the future of journalism. It reinforces the message of media as a civic activity that sometimes gets lost when people talk about all the cool gizmos ‘new journalism’ will come up with.
Local news organizations are in a lucky position right now: They are the sole distributors of the information that matters to one community.
In the rapidly evolving media world, many have taken up the cry of information distribution as a necessary facet of a healthy democracy. While I agree wholeheartedly, it’s only true if it starts on what might seem like a microscopic scale.
At the core of every profession is its relation to human society; for that reason, evolving technologies will never take the place of the basic human connectedness required of any career path.
For all the would-be doctors at UCSD, the same principle applies. Pre-med students, no matter how sharp their GPA, will soon learn that empathy and caring are essentials to the job. Knowing the community you’re treating is just as important as memorizing the Krebs cycle.
Aspiring grads in any field must be aware of the newest innovations in their field, but ensure that they don’t forget about the original reason they chose to pursue that path.
So, ’09-ers, go forth and use all the multimedia you want ‘mdash; just don’t forget what you originally loved about your chosen career path.