When I first registered for COMM-200, I did so largely because it was an SOC requirement for my major, Public Communication. I didn’t really give the topic of the class much thought after I registered; I simply knew it was a class I had to take and would think about it later once classes actually began.

As we begin the sixth week of the semester, I’ve learned a lot from my experience in the COMM-200 classroom. I’ve learned about different types of news, news sources, leads, AP style, objectivity vs subjectivity, how a newsroom works, how to cover different types of news events… the list goes on. But what I’ve learned the most about, I think, is what journalism entails, and what the profession demands of those who are interested in it and wish to succeed as a journalist.

Journalism isn’t just about walking up to people, asking them questions, and then reporting what their answers were. It’s about researching facts, checking your sources, interviewing people, and crafting a well-written, interesting, and reliable story. (It can’t hurt to double – or triple – check to make sure your quotes and sources are all correct either.) It’s about knowing how to present your information in different ways and knowing when to write it’s appropriate to write a hard news story or a feature. It’s about knowing how to cover different situations in the most efficient way and always keeping an eye on the deadline. It’s about going out and finding a story, even if it doesn’t seem like there is one, because there is always a story out there.

The growing importance and relevance of technology doesn’t mean that journalism is being rendered obsolete, either. Perhaps print journalism is truly dying out, but that doesn’t mean journalism itself is a dead industry. Almost all major newspapers can be accessed and read online, and journalists are still the ones who write the story, whether it is printed on paper or online. Social media websites like Twitter can also be used for the news and are in fact utilized by many journalists and news sources when covering major events or spreading the word about a major news story. Blogs are also another outlet for journalists; they, like newspapers, are great mediums to use when reaching out to mass audiences.

Journalism isn’t just about writing the news. That’s definitely a huge component, but there are so many other things that journalism involves to say that it’s simply about writing the news is a massive understatement.

—

Pages 104 – 109 of the textbook talk about how to cover different types of events such as meetings, crime, and speeches. I never realized there are so many different things to look out for/keep in mind when covering an event, depending on what type of even it is. The checklists listed for each event are incredibly handy and I’ll definitely be using them if I have to cover an event listed in the textbook!