Newspapers have tradition, from newsboys to war reels, but it’s not all about being the next Bob Woodward or Walter Cronkite. I don’t want to be molded into another person, and, to me, journalism is about accepting the legacy of the long line of those who came before you and then breaking that tradition–breaking the rules and investigating things no one has explored before. The headlines of the past live on but have no hold on the future.
Because of journalism, I want to see one side of the story, then two, then three, crack the world like an egg just to see what’s inside and offer a new perspective to the world in return. Due to my experiences, I find myself noticing intricacies in this mad, elegant universe we live in–the unbelievable hum of life that surrounds us every day. I ask why are things like this, what came before, what can be done to improve?
I find myself contemplating the bias of an article, the wording of a headline and usage of quotes. I find myself noticing AP style, like the lack of an Oxford comma in the previous line–debating the morality of issues, because if you’re allowed to do it, does that mean you should? Is continuity more important than growth?
Journalism has tradition, but it has a future too. This past summer I attended the Al Neuharth Free Spirit journalism conference, and that was one of the more important lessons I learned there. Journalism isn’t dying. The advent of the television didn’t kill journalism and neither will the net, but journalism is evolving just as surely as the world is turning. The news cycle is measured in seconds rather than days, very similar to a race–sometimes literally, as shown by journalists sprinting with the Supreme Court healthcare decision over the summer.
News has always thrived, beyond the invention of the radio, the TV, the transition to the web. And just like journalism itself, the circumstances in which I was raised affect me, but they do not determine me, they do not define me. There’s always room to grow or change media, from broadcast to blogs.
As the title implies, news is new – still fresh-faced and bold as if it hadn’t survived millennia on humanity’s whispers, constantly rejuvenated by the journalists of past and future generations who tend so carefully to the grapevine. Journalism has taught me to adapt and strive for unknown boundaries, just as those grapes strain sun-ward for nourishment and the full, blooming hope of a bright future ahead.
