D:F/M has been in a state of academic stasis for years and years but in recent years Colleagues have resorted to all manner of fabrications to cover up its failings. What follows reveals a venial sin/omission compared to a mortal sin/omission (catechism from Catholic schools still resonates slightly). It also could be merely a mistake.
As if he was reading my mind:
When I first stumbled into blogging over 12 years ago, it was for two reasons: curiosity and freedom. I was curious about the potential for writing in this new medium; and for the first time, I felt total freedom as a writer. On my little blog, I was beholden to no one but my readers. I had no editor to please, no advertiser to woo, no publisher to work for, no colleagues to manage. Perhaps it was working for so long in old media that made me appreciate this breakthrough so much. But it still exhilarates every day. [Full Column here]
A great evening, February 8, The Emerging Skills of Tomorrow’s Journalist. Very informative. Cutting edge. The kind of wisdom regarding the direction of journalism that my Colleagues have chosen to ignore, especially in light of their effort to introduce a journalism/media curriculum so lame that I’m embarrass for them. They aren’t.
More to follow about the event and the direction of journalism.
A quickie: I watched bits n’pieces of Olbermann. I watched Rachel Maddow a few times and wondered how long MSNBC allow her to pummel the extreme right. She was very good but something about her shows seemed artificial and more like entertainment, as in, Okay, you think these right wing sleaze bags are going to heaven? Well, watch this choreography we put together to make sure that you know they’re really going to hell. A little over the top, I thought.
I considered her and his shows marketing devices for MSNBC to compete against Fox for viewership. Whereas Fox never seemed that way: True diehard neo-nativists — neo-fascistic, comfortable in the presence of birthers and all the other neo-bigots. A real bigot revue.
I believe that the MSNBC high mucky-mucks and the Fox high mucky-mucks meet somewhere in an upscale bar and schmooze, slap each other on the back, commiserate.
There’s been a lot of whining and sighing about the demise of print newspapers. No tears shed here. Â They ignored the Oracles warning of the Darwinian consequences if they didn’t clean up their act. The same fate should befall those journalism programs that don’t engage their students in real-world journalism.
The digital journalism tsunami is here, has been here and is continuing for those who don’t know. But you wouldn’t know that in light of the undergraduate journalism curriculum at certain higher ed institutions. Students are posting on CNN’s iReport, including one of mine whose uploads get special treatment. There are other sites gobbling up the potential as soon as it appears.
Feature Writing, Spring 2009.
Email sent to my Feature Writing students after the Thursday, April 30 class:
Andrea Leon convinced me that I missed the big picture and that she has a story that no journalist, pro or student (in recent memory), has regarding Sharpton. So, I would really appreciate it if everyone in class would send her three or four sentences regarding their likes and dislikes about Sharpton. Try to be specific about why you like or don’t like or respect or disrespect about him.
Please let her know if you can use your name or not in this special she’s working on.
For pedagogical reasons, I will offer a brief recap and opinion at the beginning of class because the tiff illustrates some journalistic matters that can’t be taught via book/class and have to be learned via real-world experience.
Thanks,
gm
Do they really want to teach introductory news writing? Instruct students whose impressions of journalism have been influenced by the content of their Myspace and Facebook accounts? Are they passionate about preparing the next wave of journalists?
… instead of the above headline from the recent issue of the Hunter Alumni magazine article about Kisha Allison, Jonathan Mena and Jacqueline Fernandez at the Democratic National Convention. Why?
New America Media National Ethnic Media Award Winners
Thursday, May 28th, 2009This is a quickie alert because I’m trying to wrap up my semester and have been waylaid with last minute stuff. More later about NAM and its June 4-5 convention. Needless to say, NAM – thanks to Jonathan Mena, Kisha Allison, Jacqueline Fernandez and Eunji Jang – really admires Hunter students and does a lot to support them.
On with the quickie:
OUTSTANDING PRINT, WEB AND BROADCAST REPORTING
ATLANTA – New America Media  the nation’s largest association of ethnic media outlets, today announced winners of its National Ethnic Media Awards honoring exceptional contributions to journalism by members of the ethnic media.
(more…)
Tags: Ethnic Journalism, ethnic journalism awards, Eunji Jang, Jacqueline Fernandez, Jonathan Mena, journalism, journalism awards, Kisha Allison, New America Media, New America Media
Posted in I Didn't See This on the Evening News (A Work in Progress), Journalism, Journalism Education, You Might See This on the Evening News (A Work in Progress) | Comments Off