“Journalism isn’t dying.. It’s being murdered” -Dave Yin
People love to say that journalism, and many other crafts, is dead, dying and a bad major(cough cough, every teacher I've ever had). When you tell people that you're headed off to college they rejoice for you, proud that you, the youth, are seeking higher education. When asked what major you are pursuing, and getting “journalism” in response, it seems that a terribly bad smell has entered the room and suddenly the initial rejoice comes to a screeching halt and crashes directly into a lecture about how journalism is dead and gone and don't I know about budget cuts and being laid off? Yes I do, but I am also aware that we are coming into the era of, believe it or not, digital journalism. But no! Journalism is strictly on paper, printed out and sold on a stand hopefully in a glossy cover if you actually want to make a living wage.
People really love to argue that an eighteen year old girl going to a small private college for journalism is financial suicide. I’m here to argue on behalf of myself and a million other hopeful writers. Journalism did not die, it is not sputtering its last breath and it is not a bad choice. In reality, journalism got a facelift and went on an internet vacation.
Media writing, blogs and even predominantly online magazines are the new sunday paper, but better. Instead of only getting information day to day and having to save clippings and stacks of useless paper and ads(save the trees if nothing else) you can now go online to your favorite source, get the news from a number of different writers with different styles and find out anything you want from attacks on Syria to presidential elections to whatever nonsense Kim Kardashian has recently bestowed upon us. The idea that journalism is dead is comical to me because I see the bigger picture. People cry about wage cuts and job loss but are not willing to write on their own, share their opinions to the entire privileged planet that has access to a computer and try to make their own difference. Why does nobody realize that The New York Times is not the only place you can get decent news? Do not misunderstand, I know that there are plenty of lies and opinions based on nothing at all but there are also millions of people wishing to share truth and opinions to a people and make a difference in the world. No, not everyone is a writer or can be in the way people need, but anyone with passion for this art(yes, art) can become something using either a pre existing platform, or create their own and truly have free reign to enlighten the world to whatever they please.
Of course this is just one side of a long argument brought to us by thousands of ancient men making six figures writing about how the government isn't corrupt and so on, but we live in a new age of discovery, international discover, self discovery and even things as simple as sports, makeup and musical discovery. The new age of journalism is better than any politic driven source that people dream of writing for.
All I want, as a young aspiring journalist, is for people to take us seriously. Take me seriously when I tell you to read my articles or my blog or even that my passion is writing. One day everyone will be looking to us; young writers who have drive and dreams of sharing anything from music to the most important news. If you are a journalist, i hope you are reassured, and if your parent recently told you you're wasting a $200,000 education on a job you'll never actually get, I hope you realize that journalism is not dead. Journalism is just beginning again.
