I like writing, too

This post is in response to this: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/10/16/why-i-write-joan-didion/

Reading "Why I Write" made me so happy. I completely relate to what she wrote, word for word.

A couple months ago I read something similar to this, but it was in a book (Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami). The main character also expressed her need to write to figure out everything in her life, what she thought and how she felt. At this point I instantly connected with a character I previously did not understand, or even like. Now that this is the second time I've heard this desire/need to write, I am wondering if it isn't such a rare thing after all. Although I am fairly certain that most people I know don't go home and write multiple-page long word documents trying to figure out why they are so darn sad sometimes.

I have done this for longer than I can remember. My mom told me she has saved up pages and pages of me scribbling out reasons why I hate my brother, or prewritten speeches to friends, apologizing for how I may have wronged them. This summer I actually compiled all of my rants, they could be found in nearly every notebook I own. They aren't always negative, sometimes they're really uplifting, in times I found it necessary to inspire myself.

I also used to write a lot of stories, and they were all clearly really about me, just with a different name. Sometimes they would entail what I was going through at the time, sometimes it would be an older version of myself, trying to figure out what I wanted.

I didn't really realize what this was until I saw it written, it truly is just me, trying to sort through what is going through my head. From time to time, I just start thinking too fast and I can't really reason with myself until I can put it on paper. When I reread it, everything makes a lot more sense. Writing is certainly a therapy for me.

Originally, I thought I wanted to be a journalist because I really loved writing. That is certainly not true anymore. Journalistic writing makes me very sad, specifically hard news. The very concept of it is to strip it of every element that I love so much about writing. I am not saying it doesn't have its place, news writing certainly has to exist, I just don't want to have any part of it.

What she said about grammar has a lot to do with it. Everything is so meticulous, even down to sentence structure. I think the way you write a sentence can have a great impact on what you are trying to say, but after seeing all of the red on my first news story, it was clear that there isn't much freedom of expression in hard news writing.

I did much better in writing feature-type pieces for the news writing class. The only thing I actually enjoyed writing was the personal profile. I got to give life to a person on page, something I have been doing for a very long time, as opposed to describing a convenience store robbery in as few words as possible.

Even if I am not going to choose writing as a career (I don't have a long enough attention span to be a novelist) I can still continue to write, because in the end, I am not really writing for anyone else, I am writing for me.

Say naux to faux

It really bums me out that the craft of photojournalism is dying. My roommate was a photojournalism major. When I first met her she was very passionate about photography, but just one year late she has switched her major, because she feels that there is no future in photojournalism, at least not one someone can make a living on.

It gets even harder when people are cutting corners. You can keep your journalistic integrity, but as a result take less spellbinding photos than the person who decided to alter the subject just a little bit. The cheater gets ahead and gets a better photo, and the true journalist is out of a job.

With the public's fascination with fascinating photos, it seems like it would be very hard to change this course of action. There could be more restrictions and guidelines placed on photojournalists, to ensure true photos, but at the end of the day the issue will always come back to money. More captivating, however altered they may be, will sell more. Why would a business try and restrain one of its best selling points?

With all of that said, I would argue that no photograph is a true, pixel by pixel reflection of reality. A photograph is the photographer's interpretation of reality. It is a photographer's decision what they are and aren't going to photograph. When you look at a photograph, you are not seeing everything, that is impossible, so as a default, you must see what the photographer has deemed most important.

The real problem comes in when this is taken to the extreme. There is a difference between deciding to take a picture of something that has actually happened, and changing what actually happened. This article reminded me of a news story I watched a few years ago. It wasn't "fauxtojournalism" but altered video, and I found it absolutely ridiculous.


In February 2011, Wisconsin's conservative governor Scott Walker cut collective bargaining. This effected many employees, especially teachers. Teachers could lose thousands of dollars because of these cuts. This caused a very large protest at the capitol.

It was so large, all the major news outlets were covering it. Including Fox news. Fox news, because of their conservative bias, backed Scott Walker and therefore wanted to make the protest look like it was a bunch of raging, unjustified crazy hippies.

This is where the problems come in. As part of their B-Roll, they showed a police horse, bucking in the air. As far as I know, there are no police horses in Madison, Wisconsin. I am not positive of this, though. If you looked behind the police horse, you would see palm trees. Palm trees. With leaves. I have lived in Madison for 11 years. There are no palm trees in Madison, Wisconsin. There are no leaves in February. This was clearly footage from some other protest in the past. It wasn't that crazy, it was a massive group of teachers at this protest, mind you.

This moment made me lose what little faith I could ever have in Fox news. That was such a blatant lie, I could not believe it. Not only was it an insult of my intelligence, but it was a beyond shady move. This fabricated footage changed the entire story. I know Fox wanted to show its viewers that they love so much exactly what they wanted to see, and they did. But I wonder how its loyal Foxies would feel if their beloved channel was lying to them? Hopefully not well.

Unpaid Internships are okay

I've said it before, and I will say it again, I really like making money. The thought of me possibly having to go through a few months of getting up early and going to a job every single day freaks me out a little bit to begin with, but adding the element of not getting paid, it nearly brings me to tears. Despite this, I understand there is a reason for this.

I feel like there is a growing sense of entitlement in the people around me, and it kind of bothers me. I don't think there is any problem with the concept of "paying your dues" if that means I have to get you coffee and bagels every day for three months without getting paid when I could be working on my tan, then okay fine, as long as I can make as much, or preferably more, money as you do one day. If other people aren't willing to stoop to that level, awesome. Less competition.

Getting rid of the idea of unpaid internships will be disastrous for absolutely everyone involved. Many companies may not be able to pay their interns, they aren't withholding a salary for their own sick enjoyment. If they cannot have unpaid interns, they may have to result to not having interns at all. Now their real employees will have to do the intern's work, and may have lower job performance on their intended job. Even worse, the opportunities gained by a student having an internship will be lost. All of the resume building material and experience is gone. This will make it even harder than it already is to get a job.

I do agree with the restrictions that are set in place, there is a fine line between an unpaid internship and slave labour, and I would hate to be the one who had to cross it. Like any situation, there is going to be some gray area, but perhaps more enforcement of the criteria is a better solution than abolishing the practice as a whole. 

With all that said, I really hope I luck out and get a paid internship. An unpaid internship is not very lucrative to me, I don't need extra college credits all that badly. I think that the trick is being able to identify the cost versus benefit of the situation that you're going to be in. At the end of the day, if you aren't cool with having an unpaid internship, don't take one.

Miley and CNN share a moneymaker

This blog is in response to this Onion article: http://www.theonion.com/articles/let-me-explain-why-miley-cyrus-vma-performance-was,33632/

As a bonafide lover of pop culture myself, Miley's performance was of great entertainment to me. While I didn't actually watch it, I did not find it necessary due to the media's extensive coverage. For days it seemed impossible to escape pictures of Miley next to pictures of raw chicken, or comparisons between Robin Thicke and a Footlocker employee. Maybe it was possible to escape, but I didn't really want to.

CNN clearly picked up on this. They plopped it on their site, front and center, and they made big bucks. Its hard to decide what is more awesome, near nudity and subpar booty shaking or cold, hard cash. The day after the VMA's, CNN got both. 

From a business perspective, this is an obvious choice. From a business perspective, it would be irresponsible not to feature this. From a business perspective, CNN is right on.

Is CNN a business or a vehicle for journalism? Both. That is why there very clearly is gray area when it comes to this.

As far as good journalism goes, CNN did not show this. For a organization that prides itself on being an honest, hard hitting outlet, they really dropped the ball on this one. This is not that important at the moment in comparison to other world events. Placement on a page is huge, and can sometimes say more than the article itself. When the article is about Miley Cyrus' dance moves, I am almost certain that it does.

As sad and confusing as it is to see a reputable news outlet pick cash over class, I understand it. If you just look at Mizzou students alone, it is hard to ignore the mass exodus from the J School to the Business School following their Freshman year. Humans search for comfort, and a lot of times that means money. It is not shocking that the people at CNN acted in this way, but it is disappointing.

It is the job of journalists to give the public the information that it is most important for them to know. Now that even the most reputable news outlets are failing to do this, it makes it harder to be an american citizen, and the credibility of journalism as a whole is dwindling.

Lucky for us, we have zoomed in pictures of Miley's lumpy butt to help us forget.