Last week, Bill Frakes' presentation not only provided optimism for the future, but reassured me that I am in the correct professional field. Although the world of journalism is slightly up in the air right now, my experiences this year, including the words of Bill Frakes, reminded me that it is something worth fighting for... and in the long run, will pay off.
Bill's stories of traveling all over the world, his various assignments and working against deadlines were captivating. It is my dream to be able to travel with my job, experience new things, and face surprise with each new day. I think these ideals are the main reason why I love writing and the thought of being a journalist so much.
With my experiences this year(writing for the Trib and reporting) and my past experiences throughout high school, it always astounds me to recognize the beauty of people. In high school, I obviously did not expand very far from inside the school's walls; but here, I have had to push my limits to reach sources, find story ideas, and become educated on topics I never truly understood. I have learned that for the most part, one wants to help with stories and will always provide the answers necessary. Although some do not necessarily agree with the topic at hand, it leaves room for debate and furthering ones knowledge on both sides. These past couple of months have been eye-opening for me, and any doubtful thoughts of my path taken have completely diminished.
Although I know it will be difficult upon graduation, and even still while in school regarding internships, I am willing to face the hardship to attain my ultimate goal. I have never been one to work toward something that I know will not make me happy or just for the money... this is why I am not a business major. I cannot imagine sitting in an office and looking at numbers while meeting with clients to discuss business propositions. Boring. I want adventure, intrigue, and to continue learning throughout my entire life. The field of journalism offers this. Whether it be traveling across the world, meeting incredible people, or pushing myself personally and professionally, I will never give up on my hopes to become a true journalist.
I know I have a long way to go, but I am looking forward to each and every step of it along the way.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
My first bashing...
Last week I learned for the first time what it feels like to upset someone with an article...
In last week's Tuesday issue of the Trib, I wrote a story on Scott Walker and his "scandal" involving student government while he was in attendance at Marquette. I worked an incredible amount to ensure it showed no bias, and spoke with individuals on all sides of the issue. In writing the article, I made sure to cover all of the bases and present information that was of fact, not opinion.
However, one student(and I'm sure many others) felt the need to express his disdain for the article I had written in the Thursday issue Viewpoint section. His submission said things like "it was one of the most biased articles I have ever read", "I have come to expect more from my campus newspaper" and noted it would be best if the "Barrett supporters" wouldn't try to sway voters with unnecessary and irrelevant items of the past.
Well, I do have to say that upon reading the submission, I felt a little bit bad about myself. In all of the articles I have ever written, whether it be in high school or college, I have never had anyone be legitimately angry about a topic I covered. Nor have I ever been accused of being biased. In fact, his submission not only saddened me, but it offended me on the account of him acting like I do not know how to do my job correctly.
Seeing that I cannot rebuttal against him, I have a few things to say about that article and his opinions of it.
First, he had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. After going over the article many times, I still cannot see a trace of personal bias. Yes, the story was about Scott Walker and cast him in a little bit of a bad light, but from the very first words, it also spoke of the ways in which Tom Barrett has used attack methods in this election. I simply presented the facts and portrayed absolutely no personal opinion. Not to mention the article had to go through six reads, so any bias would have been removed in that process. But this random person writing to the Trib obviously did not know that.
Second, he referred to me as a "Tom Barrett supporter" and as someone on the "left side" of things. Although he is correct in the fact that I consider myself a bit of a liberal, he had absolutely no idea or fact to base that claim off of. I have never met this individual in my life, nor do I have political affiliation or anything of the sort on my facebook... so he had no way of knowing who I support. For all he knows, I could be a Walker supporting Republican, yet he was so naive to jump to the conclusion that I simply did my job incorrectly and wrote a story trying to persuade voters. No. Half of me wanted to e-mail him saying, "Hey guess what, I support Scott Walker", but that would just be unprofessional.
Finally, he honestly did not say anything in his submission to back up his claims. He simply called me out(using my name multiple times) and then spit out a bunch of facts about Walker's campaign... the same ones that every. single. Republican supporter of Walker says. "250,000 jobs...less government is more government..." So basically, HE was the one writing in and trying to persuade voters. Although he can do this, he very clearly thought he was calling me out and showing the Marquette community that it was wrong what I wrote. Instead, for anyone that read my article and sees politics for what it really is, they would have seen that he was very ignorant. And then if they would have facebook stalked him like I did, they would have also seen that his profile picture is a campaign ad for Scott Walker.
Wonderful.
Needless to say, I am thrilled the elections are today. I'm tired of negative campaign ads, angry individuals and so much partisan hatred toward one another. The government is going nowhere fast and the manner in which it is looked upon now is not going to help it at all. In fact, after watching the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear last weekend, I would love for my next President to be Jon Stewart.
That is all.
In last week's Tuesday issue of the Trib, I wrote a story on Scott Walker and his "scandal" involving student government while he was in attendance at Marquette. I worked an incredible amount to ensure it showed no bias, and spoke with individuals on all sides of the issue. In writing the article, I made sure to cover all of the bases and present information that was of fact, not opinion.
However, one student(and I'm sure many others) felt the need to express his disdain for the article I had written in the Thursday issue Viewpoint section. His submission said things like "it was one of the most biased articles I have ever read", "I have come to expect more from my campus newspaper" and noted it would be best if the "Barrett supporters" wouldn't try to sway voters with unnecessary and irrelevant items of the past.
Well, I do have to say that upon reading the submission, I felt a little bit bad about myself. In all of the articles I have ever written, whether it be in high school or college, I have never had anyone be legitimately angry about a topic I covered. Nor have I ever been accused of being biased. In fact, his submission not only saddened me, but it offended me on the account of him acting like I do not know how to do my job correctly.
Seeing that I cannot rebuttal against him, I have a few things to say about that article and his opinions of it.
First, he had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. After going over the article many times, I still cannot see a trace of personal bias. Yes, the story was about Scott Walker and cast him in a little bit of a bad light, but from the very first words, it also spoke of the ways in which Tom Barrett has used attack methods in this election. I simply presented the facts and portrayed absolutely no personal opinion. Not to mention the article had to go through six reads, so any bias would have been removed in that process. But this random person writing to the Trib obviously did not know that.
Second, he referred to me as a "Tom Barrett supporter" and as someone on the "left side" of things. Although he is correct in the fact that I consider myself a bit of a liberal, he had absolutely no idea or fact to base that claim off of. I have never met this individual in my life, nor do I have political affiliation or anything of the sort on my facebook... so he had no way of knowing who I support. For all he knows, I could be a Walker supporting Republican, yet he was so naive to jump to the conclusion that I simply did my job incorrectly and wrote a story trying to persuade voters. No. Half of me wanted to e-mail him saying, "Hey guess what, I support Scott Walker", but that would just be unprofessional.
Finally, he honestly did not say anything in his submission to back up his claims. He simply called me out(using my name multiple times) and then spit out a bunch of facts about Walker's campaign... the same ones that every. single. Republican supporter of Walker says. "250,000 jobs...less government is more government..." So basically, HE was the one writing in and trying to persuade voters. Although he can do this, he very clearly thought he was calling me out and showing the Marquette community that it was wrong what I wrote. Instead, for anyone that read my article and sees politics for what it really is, they would have seen that he was very ignorant. And then if they would have facebook stalked him like I did, they would have also seen that his profile picture is a campaign ad for Scott Walker.
Wonderful.
Needless to say, I am thrilled the elections are today. I'm tired of negative campaign ads, angry individuals and so much partisan hatred toward one another. The government is going nowhere fast and the manner in which it is looked upon now is not going to help it at all. In fact, after watching the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear last weekend, I would love for my next President to be Jon Stewart.
That is all.
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