This week in Journ 420...

This week's lecture topic was outsourcing.  This is generally something I associate with anything technology related.  While, I have heard that certain newspapers have considered outsourcing for editing, I never truly realized just how many papers have tried it, and how big of a problem this truly is.  Our economy isn't doing so well right now.  I am all for saving a couple of dollars here and there, but is outsourcing really the answer for all of our editing needs?  I am going to argue that no, it is not.  In fact, I do not think that newspapers should consider outsourcing for anything but advertisements.  

After reading the comment from one of the outsourced writers for the Pasadena Now, I couldn't understand why some editors feel as though outsourcing is a good idea.  The outsourced writer was assigned to cover city council meetings.  The meetings are taped and posted on the Internet.  The first question I had was a simple one.  How can these individuals evaluate what is truly important to the community/what certain things mean for the city when they are an ocean's length away?  The only answer I can come up with is that they can't.  I have a hard enough time judging what I think should be important to communities when I am a part of them, let alone when I am on another continent.  

Another issue I had with the outsourcing idea also arose after reading the comment from one of the outsourced writers for the Pasadena now.  Within the first few words, it was evident that the English language was not the writer's strong point.  Seeing as he was writing for an English-language newspaper, I see this as a bit of a problem.  To me, this gives the paper's editors unnecessary work.  Does that make it worth it?  No, not really.  In addition, this particular writer thought that the Rose Bowl was some sort of food dish.  Now, I'm not a sports buff nor do I pretend to be.  I cheer when others cheer, and immediately ask why we're cheering.  However, I do know what the Rose Bowl is.  Perhaps that is because it is something that has been put into our culture and is recognized by much of the population.  Huh...I wonder how many other things these outsourced writers misunderstand.  Actually, I don't want to know.  It will only make me hate this concept even more.

I disagree...

Ever since my first journalism class, I have been told that print journalism is slowly dying out.  It's all going to be online soon, journalists say.  Not many people read newspapers anymore, computer nerds rant.  Up until our lecture on Monday, I began to believe it myself.  Now, I just believe that I was being brainwashed to believe what everyone else thinks.

I know better now.

My generation is obsessed with receiving information at lightening speed.  We cannot stand the unknown and, for some reason, having to wait longer than an hour for information is too hard to do.   Please note that this is my generation.  Considering my generation is not the only one that exists, I'm not quite sure why we are so panicky.  

Generations before ours have relied on newspapers forever.  People read them with their coffee, stuff them into briefcases and take them out on the train ride to the office.  Papers provide ample entertainment on the way to the office, during lunch and after someone gets home from work.  The generation of which I am speaking is not mine.  It is our parents' generation and the one before that...and, in some cases, the one before that.  Sure, my generation is going to take over all of those places, but it is not something that is going to happen any time soon.  

My advice to you is to stop freaking out.  It would be naive to say that the Internet has no effect upon print journalism, but it is also naive to believe that print journalism will die anytime soon.  The Internet obsessed era has yet to gain total control of the world, so until they do, take a breather, grab a paper, and actually flip through it.  Don't be afraid.  It is virus free and you might actually learn something new.  

So here's the deal.  I just got into an argument with one of my friends.  He is a pre-med major.  He thinks science and math are the only things that matter.  He told me that writing is pointless and communication isn't very necessary.  Needless to say, I convinced more people that it was necessary than he did.  Funny how that works, isn't it?  

For the sake of embarassing him via the internet, I will not say his name...even though I really want to.  After the "argument," I had an epiphany myself.  Despite how awful the economy may be at this point in time, companies will always need someone that can communicate.  Words are extremely powerful tools for a myriad of things.  How do you think those medical books were written in a way to make you understand, oh powerful med student?  It takes writing and communication skills to be able to pull something like that off, even in the world of medicine.

This epiphany gave me hope.  I tend to stress out about things, and the whole bad economy/me not possibly getting a job after graduation thing took about ten years off of my life.  Not that I want to write medical journals, or take notes for doctors, but I realized that there are so many opportunities available to me as a journalism major.  I am able to go into public relations type things, advertising, and business.  As much as my opponent would like to disagree with me, many fields would not exist without communication.  Although he is too stubborn to realize that he may have lost this argument, I know who the real winner is.   

Cutlines

I'm going to be honest.  When I first heard that we would be spending a week discussing cutlines, a little part of me shuddered.  "How boooring," I thought.  "Especially at 8:00 in the mooorning."  After being dismissed to do the assignment, my spirits hadn't lifted very much.  I sat down at the computer, headed to the AP website and became enthralled by all of the photographs that accompanied each story.  This particularly shocked me because, while I had heard about the earthquake in L'Aquila, Italy, I had yet to see actual photographs.  Hearing about the damage was nothing compared to seeing the sheer volume of destruction.  I heard about this story through Facebook.  I have friends (who remain unscathed) studying abroad in Italy this semester that were kind enough to let us know they were safe.  Also, despite the Irish front my red hair likes to put up, I am Italian, so this story hit particularly close to home because of my heritage and study-abroad friends.  

As it turns out, I truly enjoyed this assignment.  By using the AP website, I felt as though I was let in on a secret that others were not.  At the end of the day, I felt as though I was solving a puzzle rather than writing cutlines.  I had to chose a picture that best fit the story and my audience.  I needed to write a lead-in of 2-3 words to grab a reader's attention (which proved to be difficult...I'm a wordy person).  Finally, I had to write the cut-line and make it fit the word requirement.

This was fun to me.  I mean, I wouldn't want to do this on a Saturday night, but I would be much happier writing cutlines than obituaries or police reports for the rest of my life.  

After Monday's class, I wondered if we would spend another day working on cut-lines.  The board made it clear to me that we would.  This time, my attitude was different, and I was able to enjoy the assignment from start to finish.  Feel free to chalk up a journalism nerd point for me.  I'm ok with it.