And The Summer Begins

I've recently just started my summer participating in the University of California Center Sacramento program. To explain in a few short words, I attend "Journalism Boot camp" for two weeks (which basically means taking two graduate classes through Berkeley's School of Journalism)and then intern with a media organization for the remaining 10 weeks while attending seminars.

Now that all that background info is out of the way, I want to tell you avid readers (anyone out there?! out there...out there... - that's an echo)some interesting things that happened today.

First of all, an assemblyman came to talk to us (if I recall correctly he is the President of the Assembly, actually). He comes in, talks about how us students are in a unique position right now, because a lot of decisions being made in the capitol building across the street from us, are monumental to our futures.

This wasn't very interesting but what caught my attention was how he made the state government seem so stupid. Well, it is when you sit down and think about it, but he's a part of it too. And is now running for the empty seat in the 10th congressional district of California. That's basically the east bay for all you who live there and actually care about your lives.

Anyways, the man basically said that our governator is cutting the budget for education, but is all about education. He is cutting the budget for the whole green movement, but is for the preservation of our green earth. Huh?

Why cut the budget where it does not need to be cut? Raise taxes on other things!

Another interesting thing that happened was we were all assigned to write a profile about a classmate.

So my interviewer calls me today, and asks me the now-age-old question: "You know about how the journalism field is dying out, newspapers are closing their doors, but obviously you have hope. Why?"

My response to this is quite obvious. We only receive credible information through the press. That isn't to say they are always honest or forthright with information - bureaucracy is a pain in the rear - but who gets international information from a random stranger's blog?

Anyone who is at all educated knows that credible information is the most useful in any situation (why we can't use wikipedia in school essays). However, the format is likely to change.

Society has come to a point where information needs to be easily accessible. That phrase used to mean "let me go down the street and get a newspaper for a quarter." Now it means, let me look it up on my iPhone that has internet access that has information updates every 1.5 seconds." We want everything all at once, and we want it fast.

Usually, I'd tell people to just slow down, take a chill pill, have some patience...(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jETv3NURwLc) but with the communications industry, there's no time to rest. And eventually, those newspaper stands will be as rare as telephone booths, if not more so. Information will come through the television, radio, and internet, and that's all.

Environmentalists probably love this because our beloved trees will only be used for extremely long essays students have to write instead of millions of copies of newspapers that end up on the floor or in the trash/recylce cans - whichever's closest. But then again, we're cutting money from education so maybe there won't be any essays in the trash either.