This week, I'm discussing journalism industry and the problems facing it. As well as exploring the challenges facing college media organizations, I'd like to reflect on my future in the industry.
Watch: "How Journalism Was Corrupted by the Power of Privilege" via BigThink
According to literary journalist Gay Tales, reporters were once outsiders looking in. In the 1950s, journalists came from lower-class, uneducated families who were not disconnected from middle America. Today, he argues, journalists have become too elite and ambitious for their own good.
This disconnect is just one of the problems facing journalists and the industry as a whole today. We can infer that the discrepancy between "the media" and middle America begins on University campuses across the country. Those who aren't on campus are automatically separated from the ideas and practices of college, and those who are enrolled are mostly separated by a "bubble" of liberal education. College journalists operate in a precarious but vastly important space in our country, and most don't even realize it.
Speaking from two years of personal experience, It was extremely challenging to be a student journalist. The work was fulfilling and I learned new skills each day, but it seemed like I made new enemies on campus with every other story I wrote.
The American Association of University Professors published a report discussing threats to the independence of student media. These threats can come in many forms, like financial censorship, denial of access (e.g. closed-door meetings), and unstable legal standing of some types of reporting.
The group also discussed need for more safeguards by examining case studies where college and university authorities exhibited hostility toward student media.
As I've begun studying for the LSAT and preparing for either law or graduate school, I've realized that I have more desire to stay in academia rather than entering the workforce as a low-level journalist making around 25k a year. Not only is the lack of money a deterring factor, the "fake news" accusations and twitter drama associated with working in the media are enough to make me want to work in a different field.
It seems as though people have stopped asking for the truth. In fact, the people have stopped asking for anything. While working in the news industry it felt as if half the time we give readers what we think they want to know, and the other half is just doing what will boost ratings or increase clicks.
I can't definitively say "I'll never work in the media" because that's simply short-sighted and premature. The news industry (and more specifically, the college media world) is full of jobs that need creative, ethical, and strong individuals. Being a journalist is rewarding, but at what mental and emotional cost?
To learn more about student press and sign up for the (amazing) Student Press Law Center weekly email, visit http://www.splc.org.
Watch: "How Journalism Was Corrupted by the Power of Privilege" via BigThink
This disconnect is just one of the problems facing journalists and the industry as a whole today. We can infer that the discrepancy between "the media" and middle America begins on University campuses across the country. Those who aren't on campus are automatically separated from the ideas and practices of college, and those who are enrolled are mostly separated by a "bubble" of liberal education. College journalists operate in a precarious but vastly important space in our country, and most don't even realize it.
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Speaking from two years of personal experience, It was extremely challenging to be a student journalist. The work was fulfilling and I learned new skills each day, but it seemed like I made new enemies on campus with every other story I wrote.
The American Association of University Professors published a report discussing threats to the independence of student media. These threats can come in many forms, like financial censorship, denial of access (e.g. closed-door meetings), and unstable legal standing of some types of reporting.
The group also discussed need for more safeguards by examining case studies where college and university authorities exhibited hostility toward student media.
"Student publications and the student press are valuable aids in establishing and maintaining an atmosphere of free and responsible discussion and of intellectual exploration on the campus. They are a means of bringing student concerns to the attention of the faculty and the institutional authorities and of formulating student opinion on various issues on the campus and in the world at large."
- 1967 Joint Statement on Rights and Freedoms of Students
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As I've begun studying for the LSAT and preparing for either law or graduate school, I've realized that I have more desire to stay in academia rather than entering the workforce as a low-level journalist making around 25k a year. Not only is the lack of money a deterring factor, the "fake news" accusations and twitter drama associated with working in the media are enough to make me want to work in a different field.
It seems as though people have stopped asking for the truth. In fact, the people have stopped asking for anything. While working in the news industry it felt as if half the time we give readers what we think they want to know, and the other half is just doing what will boost ratings or increase clicks.
I can't definitively say "I'll never work in the media" because that's simply short-sighted and premature. The news industry (and more specifically, the college media world) is full of jobs that need creative, ethical, and strong individuals. Being a journalist is rewarding, but at what mental and emotional cost?
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| Me, reporting on a UNF Alum. Assoc. meeting in early 2016 as a reporter for my college news org. |
To learn more about student press and sign up for the (amazing) Student Press Law Center weekly email, visit http://www.splc.org.
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