This generation receives a lot of
negative stereotypes. We had the fortune of growing up in a time where
everything is constantly at our fingertips. We know what our friends are doing
by opening up Twitter, how our families vacation is going through glimpses on
Facebook, and we have the ability to reach any news source at any time, just by
going to our web browser on our phones.
What they forget to give us credit
for is that we’re currently the only people trained to do so. We’re the only
ones who are taking classes in photoshop, the only ones who grew up with
iPhones glued to our hands. Although at times, this could be seen as a
disadvantage, for our work field, it could wind up helping us.
Yesterday, I attended a workshop on
magazine features and how to get them published. It began with a brief history
of cell phones, social media and electronics. What many journalism students
fail to realize their first year of writing is that news writing isn’t the only
option for us. There’s an array of different things we could do. Personally, my
end goal is magazine features.
Mark Mayfield, who is from the
University of Alabama, eased my mind a little bit. I consistently hear how hard
it is to get a job in the writing field. He said you don’t necessarily need to
climb the ladder. The people who say so are a little frightened by our
generation and our ability to ease into technology so effortlessly. In reality,
when we graduate and all publications move forward, we are the ones trained in
it. We’re the ones who will be eventually taking their jobs.
Some tips he provided were to
always do it big for your interview. Rather than going to someone’s office, go
get lunch with them. Describe the atmosphere for your reader; make them feel
like they were a part of the interview as well. Always capture your reader in
the first sentence. If they can’t connect with a story, they’re going to keep
going to find one they can. Newswriting is a great stepping-stone for other
types of writing. It teaches you to be friendly to whom you’re interviewing, it
teaches you to work around a deadline and it helps you pay close attention to
detail.
The job market for what we want to
do is changing. You’re copying and pasting with the click of a finger now; people
want news instantly. They want it quickly. They want headlines that are 140
characters long so they can get an educated synopsis of a story on their
morning commute. Who better to deliver that then the kids who have seen some of
the most advanced technology yet?
This is in no way me condoning the
excessive use of technology. But it is me saying that everyone is moving
towards that. People of all ages are adapting to the technology change. Shouldn’t
journalists, too?
I think that writing an technology
go very hand-in-hand. Why not put your iPhone obsession to good use and educate
people? Rather than tweeting about silly things, put social media to good use
and educate people.
Brittany Tuft, '15, Managing Editor
