I can't believe it's week 6

Wow week six already time is a flying, so ill get right into it. This week was pretty much crazy for all of my classes especially in reportin'. This week the beat projects were do and i was pretty much worked to the wire because people are mad suspicious of everyone these days. They're always asking "What is this for?" or "So your a journalist?" I don't know how to respond to the latter question i'm not a journalist I just write what I see. To be honest the reason I had so much trouble with this assignment was i really just didn't care. Not to say that my neighborhood wasn't interesting or worth reporting on I just have more pressing things to worry about in my life then some neighborhood I would never have gone to if I wasn't being graded on it. The most frustrating thing is the amount of time wasted. I would spend hours in my neighborhood and have very little to show for it. I mean I get it that if I want a job in reporting I need to be able to suck it up and do things I normally wouldn't. So I hope this is just part of the process of becoming a journalist and I dont know if i'll ever be comfortable about saying I'm a journalist until I am one. So in short the beat assignment was uncomfortable and new but good for the long run... I hope. We also did this really weird role playing writing assignment on wednesday. It was kinda cool and I think it was a good way to show how much improvement i've made since week one. That first day we had an assignment and I looked at the computer screen for like 15 minutes doing nothing and then just threw down a story with like ten minutes left. Now when we have a timed writing excerise I don't even get nervous I just black out for 45 minutes and a story busts out. I even had time to read it over a couple times to see if I liked it. I don't know if i got a good grade on it but it was the story I wrote and even if I had four days to write it I don't think much would have changed from my style or the way I wrote the story. Well, this is a short one but I'll write another one in a couple of hours so I wouldn't be too upset about it. Don't Stop believing hold on to that loving feeling.

Hey I did it

Yes, I remembered to write this before midnight. So in regards to journalism that I have been reading. Well to be honest i don't read as much news as i should i get most of my news from T.V. My favorite interviewer is Larry King. He does the best interviews although every once in awhile he has some boring people on the show. I've also been watching alot of NBC nightly news with the Brian Williams, he is the man. So this is troubleing for me especially since I often get hasseled by people after saying I am a magazine journalism major when they respond with the "print journalism is dead." So is print dead? Well it might not be dead but its old and has Alzheimer's. To be honest most newspapers are boring and repetitive. The same stories over and over again written the same way. Car crash happened here and it went like this. THis is the role that print has taken in presenting information. If you want to get the stories you allready know about you read the paper. This person got murdered today blah blah blah. The T.V. news though allows for in-depth stories where you get to see the way people are. The main point is T.V. has color. They aren't afraid to try something new. I look at Chris Hanson as an example. I've recently become a huge fan of watching pedophiles being arrested and presented as news. It's almost a form of Gonzo Journalism but more like the anti-Gonzo Journalism. Instead of being the story Chris Hanson forces the story and plays as the answer to the problem that he makes happen. This is definetly questionable journalism ethically. I saw a special on ABC about "To Catch a predator" that invovled a man commiting suicide because of the show. This is just ridiculous that a news program becomes a special for another news program. It is obvious that "To Catch A Predator" steps over then line from observer to judge. This may not be the most ethical news reprting but it sure as hell is entertaining. So I dont know what kind of conclusions were made but in the end you can't fault the guy for bringing pedophiles to jail.

I'm a Dummy

So i was stoaked about getting something done before the last hour it was due and then I forgot to do the second one and I waited all week to start this blog. I guess I'm just a little busy this year with all my classes and getting things together. As for this week in class I am starting to get into a rhythm and I think the rest of the class is to. I am no longer terrified of writing story in 40 minutes and I actually have been finishing early. We have been working on our beat assignments and my map was piss poor. I knew it was piss poor when i turned it in but I just didn't have time to make it look all nice. I really thought the map was just for me to use I didn't know we had to turn it in so i kinda just made notes to myself. There is plenty of detail actually in my map it is just a mess and I am going to redo it. It is hard to get motivated to go out to my beat cause it is far away and I really could care less about the place. It is a cool assignment but at the same time it is a lot of work outside of class time and I am busy. This class should definetly be six credits. We also had to read from the best newspaper writings book and there was one article about the marines who let families know when their loved one dies and it was pretty powerful. It was really long but if you didn't get a little choked up reading it; you have no soul. It is the type of writing I think would be fun but the more journalism classes I take the less enthused about writing for a publication I become. All right hopefully I don't forget to do another one of these before midnight. Peace.

Week 3 Stay Fly, No Lie, We Ballin!

Hey look, I'm doing my Blog before Sunday at 11:00 p.m. This is a huge step for me. This week of class was kinda crazy cause we didn't have class properly on Monday. Instead we got a very vague writing assignment, which under normal circumstances I would have enjoyed thoroughly. This Monday I really wasn't on my A game. I didn't feel well and I had a ton of stuff to do so I have to say that my effort for the story was piss poor. At least I turned something in. I originally wanted to do a story on Weezy F. Baby (Lil Wayne) who had a concert at Mac Court on Sunday, but didn't show up because he got arrested in Idaho. I didn't do this story because I didn't go to the concert and I had no idea who to talk to about it. Anyway I think I got some good quotes for my ticket line story, and if I could use inappropriate language I would have had some really good quotes. All in all the story was frustrating because I felt rushed although as you can tell I seem to write better with my back against a wall so it really shouldn't matter that the deadline was so fast. I'm stoaked for the beat assignment. I hope to have some fun with it. I have never been to the area I have been assigned so I have no idea what to expect. We also had a pretty good talk about anonymous sources and what makes someone a journalist, but i was on a bunch of dayquil so i didn't contribute too much. I am feeling a lot better now though so hopefully next week I'll be able to put some more effort in my writing. I guess I learned mostly this week that sometimes the paper sucks not because the writer is bad but maybe the writer just is sick this week.

Gonzo Journalism

So the way I understand this is that one blog is supposed to be about class and the other about something in journalism. Well, recently I read an issue of "Rollingstone Magazine" with a feature on Hunter S. Thompson. It was all about this new book on Thompson but told through the people who knew him. I thought this was a great idea considering the people he rolled with. You could write entire books on the people he used to hang out with so to hear what they had to say about Thompson was really cool. I have read some of his work although not all of it, and I find it incredible what he could get away with. Gonzo journalism is not just writing a story but going to a story and becoming the feature yourself. Although it sounds like a ton of fun, I am not sure if I or anyone for that matter could ever pull off what Thompson did ever again without going to jail or becoming completely insane. I certainly know I couldn't nor do I think I should try to be a Gonzo Journalist. The article did however show me a cool way to write. The book is made of mostly quotes. It really lets the interviewee tell the story instead of the writer. This is a cool way to write a story and it allows for much more work doing the fun stuff like interviewing people who are cooler than you, and there is less filler. So I think it is a cool way to write journalism, but at the same time I know that if you wrote everystory that way it would get ridiculous. Allright I hope I am doing this right. Keep it real

Im awful at blogging

So i forgot to get this done last week, and i almost forgot about it again this week. I feel it is safe to say i am not good at this blog thing. Anyway I realize this is last minute but at least I am getting it done. So far I have really enjoyed the class. It is the fastest three class I have ever taken. I enjoy how the class is moved by our work rather then learning how other people write. I have always found learning more effective when you just dive into it. Although I don't know if i understand this blogging assignment. I do understand that it is probably something as simple as just getting us writing on a consistant basis. I also do enjoy journaling to a point. I just feel that while I am writing in a journal I could be out doing things that are worth writing about. Anyway back on track, the class. I understand that my leads are a little weak, but i am scared to get to creative with them in small (and by small I mean large) part do to the J school. I feel the J school give you a box and says write inside this. This does not mean that I don't like the program. In truth, I do like the U of O J school and it has made me a better writer without a doubt. It is just completely different to every other journalism class I have taken so far. I guess I just got to find a way to write an interesting lead but not flowery. Allright I'm not sure how long these are supposed to be and I need to still write another one real quick so I'm going to end this write here. Hope I'm doing this right and I'll try to not procrastinate again. Peace!

Mission Statement

Mission Statement

My mission for this class is to succeed in whatever form I can. It is hard to say this early how much I will get from this class and a large part will be due to my effort towards the class. Confidence in my writing will help me to become a better writer and I hope to gain some from this class. Now that I am a senior I need to start to choose a path for the rest of my life, not saying that I will stay on that path, but I at least need something to get me going after I graduate. In the end I am looking to learn a lot about writing and have as good of a time as possible.
As for my aspiring career as a journalist I am very indecisive about my future goals. Everyday I seem to change my mind on the direction I want to go with my writing or whether I even want to write as a profession. As for now though that seems to be the only job that suites me. I really do enjoy learning about new things and especially the interview process. I find it fascinating what people will say to you if you just ask the right questions. The key is to enjoy what you do so I have very little fear about being successful in either journalism if I choose or some other field that inspires me. So far I feel my attempt at being a serious writer has been lazy and I do wish to change this as soon as possible.
I have written for my high school paper and a couple of attempts at freelance, but the effort has been half ass at best. I wrote for my Temple newsletter for a little while and an article for the Emerald my freshman year. I do however keep journals, which are a good start, but only when I am traveling and usually they have large gaps between entries. I certainly hope that my writing will be more frequent and of high quality for now on.