The end of the year

I can't believe this year is coming to an end. Why do I always feel like that? It's stupid, really. It isn't like I know what's coming or how time works. I guess sometimes things go by so slowly and others go so fast. Yet, here I sit, the end of the year facing finals and still shocked that I have to find something to do for a summer.

It's been a good year. A lot happened, so things stayed interesting! I mean, it's definitely not every semester that the VP shoots a guy in the face or that the governor tries to eliminate the basic right of women to have jurisdiction over their own bodies. Hmm, let's see...Sioux Falls had an interesting mayoral race, someone thinks it will be a good idea to expand USDSU, there was a grisly murder in Sioux Falls. and lots more.

With the classes that I took this year and beginning at the Collegian, I really feel like I have not only more knowledge, but a lot more experience and a greater understanding of a lot of elements. I tried new things and met a lot of new people (I've never taken a class with that many ag journalism people!). All around, a good year...

I can't think of a good title...

So, sorry to all those who have been dying to read my blog! The internet at our house has been quite uncooperative.

I just got home from my job in the SDSU Admissions office and while I was at work today, I was thinking about th hundreds of tours I have given. From there I started thinking about the different kids I've met who have been interested in journalism in one form or another. I've met these kids, talked to them, given them tours, even did a faculty visit in the summer when no professors were here! This made me wonder...how good of a job did I do? How many of them came here?

I know it's a strange thing to be wondering about, but as I look all around and see friends getting ready to graduate, I realize that will be me in only one year. And I want to know that I'm leaving SDSU with quality students who will try as hard as I have to make SDSU and the JMC (and the Collegian!) stronger and even more respected.

I think it's tough, because even here at State, the largest school in South Dakota, I often have to defend the school or dept. against out-of-state schools like U of M or UNL and even USD, with their fancy-schmancy Neuharth Center. Maybe I am overly idealistic, but the size of the school or the number of computers isn't the most important thing...

Now I have to go. All this pondering has made me slightly depressed about getting jobs and leaving school, et cetera.

Responsibility

Dave Munson recently won the mayoral race in Sioux Falls. I heard a lot of people saying they didn't think he could possible win due to the scandal over his finances. I, personally, was taken by surprise by his victory. But the whole situation got me thinking about something else.

Munson got a lot of negative press for his mistakes. Don't get me wrong-I think it was well-deserved. There is never an acceptable occasion for lying to your constituents. However, I wondered if the scope and length of the coverage didn't get a little out of hand and lend itself to needlessly bashing him. You see this so many times in the communications industry and it's always circular. Do people become unpopular because of the coverage of their mistakes, or are they getting coverage because their mistakes have made them unpopular?

Being a journalism major, I am often asked why something was given the coverage it got or why this story was on the back page when it was more important than that. I can never really answer because everyone has different opinions on what is newsworthy, but I oftentimes have to debate with myself over the real neccesity of some stories or the way they are covered and a million other things. I hope that when I actually work in the industry, I will gain more insight into the methods and reasoning of editors and publishers. Until then, I will probably always question why this person has a story about them or if this problem really needs to be on the front page AGAIN and so on and so on...I hope I find out sooner than later.

The week is over...

It's that time of year. The end of classes is in sight, yet juuuust out of reach. I am quite ready to be finished with tests and papers and quizzes, but I'm also pretty nervous about starting my internship. I'm sure I've vented about this before, but I just want to do a good job and not feel like a fool (at least still after the first few days!).

With trying to get everything done for classes, I almost forget about my activities. The other day, we had the last planning meeting for the Collegian this semester. Whoa!! Already? I feel like I just started working there. I'm looking forward to next year. Hopefully I can stay in the same position. I've had a lot of fun working at the paper this semester. There are going to be some changes, but dealing with those is just good experience.

Like I said, I'm excited to start at the Daily in Mitchell. Being in one of the larger cities in South Dakota will be exciting, especially with the governor's race and the changes in city government that Mitchell recently faced. It will also be nice to live at home this summer and not worry about too much...considering this is the last summer I will spend as a student before GRADUATING next year. EEEEEEEEEKK!!!

The Journal

I went home this weekend and settled in to catch up on all the back issues of my hometown paper, the Sanborn Weekly Journal. I read all the news and happenings of Woonsocket, Letcher, and Artesian (meaning who went over to who's house for dinner!). I was then talking to my parents and heard about all the changes the Journal is instituting. They are really encouraging thier readers to become more oriented to the internet, as well as using it themselves. For example, they now have people email them the news of where they went and who was with them, instead of calling everyone on "the list."

I think what the editor of the Journal is trying would be one of the hardest things to do in journalism. They are trying to modernize a paper while still keep the publication familiar to the people who have been reading it for decades. There are a lot of people in Woonsockt who would freak out if the paper changed radically one week. Small town papers are the life's blood of South Dakota journalism. I think every paper should be commended for the balance they achieve between small town news and news of a larger scope. The diversity between one paper and the next is something I love. The difference in coverage from one small town to another is a lot of fun to observe and I hope it never gets homogenized. I think South Dakota would lose a lot of heritage and tradition if the news were to stop being localized, to a point.

I, however, am not sure I would like to own a paper as small as the Journal. It would get pretty monotonous, which is one of the things I know the current owners are trying to change. One the other hand, I do know that it would be nice to know that what I do is so treasured and appreciated. I suppose it all depends on your goals and what is really important for you to accomplish. I hope Hilary is getting what she wants out of this endeavor.

Good for her!

I have never been fond of Katie Couric. I have never really understood why people make such a big deal about her when I don't think she participates in difficult journalistic efforts. I am sure it is harder than in looks, but what I am getting at is does she do the research and write the questions for the segments on the Today show? That is all I'm asking...

OK, 180 degree turn! I think it's great that Katie Couric is going to be a major news anchor and the first woman at that. Anytime a woman can break into a forum previously held only by men, I will cheer for whoever that may be! (Well, there are some exceptions to that, but I can't think of anything right now.)

I also hope this means there will be more of a platform for women to actually break into the nightly news forum. I've never understood why it was only men, anyway. Did people think women couldn't handle it? Well, I suppose men run the administration of these networks, so that could explain a little bit. Or a lot.

I also saw on another student's blog that they were concerned about Couric showing disloyalty to NBC with the move. That's business, I guess. Was she supposed to down what some (OK, me) consider a better job, ASIDE from the money and perks they probably threw in? I don't think that's selling out. I think she earned this job and the perks are CBS's way of showing her they know it's going to take a lot to make the transition.

So Much News!

There has been so much going on in the news lately. From the Sioux Falls mayor race to the immigration law to the Iran missile tests and possible nuclear threat, keeping up with the news is a full-time job!

The assignment we had in Editing the other day was good experience at taking the news of today and deciding what is the news of tomorrow. It really makes you think about what you want to read and then reevaluating that on the grounds of what others will want to read, or more importantly, what they should read. It's easy to ignore things you're not interested in most of the time, but in this job, you have to be pretty selfless and remember that as a member of the media, you may be helping set the agenda for the public's concerns.

I was also pretty freaked out during class the other day though. I read pretty in-depth about the Iran missile tests and was pretty startled by the advancements they are making (or claim they are-there's some contention on that point). I hope they can be stopped from doing some things they are moving towards, but at the same time, I don't want the US to have to commit more troops to global peacekeeping.