What I learned in Journalism
During my two year tenure in the journalism program, I learned a lot about the mentality of students, tenured professors and journalism expectation and standards as a whole.
While the left and the right will forever be fighting about how the media leans either each way. The truth is that people who inspire to be journalist wants to make a difference. They all secretly want to be the next Pulitzer winner. The next Bob Woodward, Carl Bernsteins, Matt Drudge or Michael Isikoff if you will. But as in the case of Isikoff, you learn quickly that stories are not printed based on truth. The institutional, financial and political pressure that surrounds a newspaper keeps it from EVER being impartial.
One of the stories that I worked on for weeks was the inconsistency in which parking tickets were being issued. I admit, I had a bone to pick, I was given a ticket parking in a 30 minute visitor parking slot. No, I did not pass the 30 minute limit. Rather, I was given the ticket because I was not a visitor. I was angry that that they would go as far as that to give me a ticket. So over the next week, I studied and memorized all the parking rules and regulation in the campus handbook. And set out to find out the truth. I went around the various parking lots to see how many tickets the rent-a-cop gives one a day. And how many actual violations there were. The number of tickets given was like a low 5%. The five on-duty rent-a-cops were usually sitting in their office, taking, drinking coffee. One of them was even playing free cell, EVERY single time I go up to the office. My angle on the story would be 1) why we were paying for so many rent-a-cops who doesn’t do anything. 2) How during a time when California is facing a budget deficit, how much revenue would be pulled in if additional parking tickets were issued. 3) The issuance of these tickets will alleviate traffic constrictions and parking issues. (The campus claims that they did not have enough money to build a new parking structure, part of the budget gap can be fixed if they were to collect parking fee from all students who parked in the lots). This story was written, copy edited, and then at the final minutes, pulled by our professor/advisor, because it would create too much “tension” between the paper and the security office.
Another story was the student body fee that was collected. Every student is required to pay an one dollar “Student Representation” fee and a eight dollars “Student Body” fee. Yes, you can opt to no pay this fee, but 1) it is not a well known fact to the students and 2) you have to apply to have these fees waived. I wanted to know where this money was going. So I contacted the former treasurer, the current treasurer, the president and finally, the advisor. I wanted to see a balance sheet. With over 25,000 dollars taken in a semester and nearly NO activity ever planned for the students, what is this money being used for. This sentiment was echoed nearly two years later by a senator in the student body, in her letter to the editor dated 05/02/2005, she states, “As far as the students' budget goes, I motioned that we post the budget for the students viewing, yet as the minutes show, it was voted against. No one has advised us to recruit a commissioner of finance, nor have we been encouraged to "pursue other outreach methods to students" (Amory Cariadus). Amory Cariadus, our adviser, has told us after we inquired that we had a beginning budget of approximately $100,000. But we have never been given any exact numbers. Again, interviews were conducted, article written, plug was pulled. Our advisor “advised” against it. Because we need to maintain a good “relationship” with the them.
This is coming from a NEWSpaper which contained hardly any news, the jokers in the class would always wait until to last minute, whips out an “opinion” piece or a review to a movie/album/restaurant. I left the program in disgust and forever changed my view on journalism.
I learned something very valuable in those incidents. I learned that the freedom of speech and freedom of press is a very powerful right, but only if it is actually given. We have so many political, institutional and social aspects to consider that saying what we want is just inapt.
I learned that as it is not the job of a journalist to attempt to make changes. It is the job of a journalist to document an event that occurred, in a given time. A snapshot if you will.
I also forgot something that I’ve learned. In my last post, I included information that was not acquired, in a journalistic sense, admissible. Hearsay if you will. Although the information was correct and factual, the method itself was less than honorable. I misused the confidential trust of that particular person, and for that I apologize.
While the left and the right will forever be fighting about how the media leans either each way. The truth is that people who inspire to be journalist wants to make a difference. They all secretly want to be the next Pulitzer winner. The next Bob Woodward, Carl Bernsteins, Matt Drudge or Michael Isikoff if you will. But as in the case of Isikoff, you learn quickly that stories are not printed based on truth. The institutional, financial and political pressure that surrounds a newspaper keeps it from EVER being impartial.
One of the stories that I worked on for weeks was the inconsistency in which parking tickets were being issued. I admit, I had a bone to pick, I was given a ticket parking in a 30 minute visitor parking slot. No, I did not pass the 30 minute limit. Rather, I was given the ticket because I was not a visitor. I was angry that that they would go as far as that to give me a ticket. So over the next week, I studied and memorized all the parking rules and regulation in the campus handbook. And set out to find out the truth. I went around the various parking lots to see how many tickets the rent-a-cop gives one a day. And how many actual violations there were. The number of tickets given was like a low 5%. The five on-duty rent-a-cops were usually sitting in their office, taking, drinking coffee. One of them was even playing free cell, EVERY single time I go up to the office. My angle on the story would be 1) why we were paying for so many rent-a-cops who doesn’t do anything. 2) How during a time when California is facing a budget deficit, how much revenue would be pulled in if additional parking tickets were issued. 3) The issuance of these tickets will alleviate traffic constrictions and parking issues. (The campus claims that they did not have enough money to build a new parking structure, part of the budget gap can be fixed if they were to collect parking fee from all students who parked in the lots). This story was written, copy edited, and then at the final minutes, pulled by our professor/advisor, because it would create too much “tension” between the paper and the security office.
Another story was the student body fee that was collected. Every student is required to pay an one dollar “Student Representation” fee and a eight dollars “Student Body” fee. Yes, you can opt to no pay this fee, but 1) it is not a well known fact to the students and 2) you have to apply to have these fees waived. I wanted to know where this money was going. So I contacted the former treasurer, the current treasurer, the president and finally, the advisor. I wanted to see a balance sheet. With over 25,000 dollars taken in a semester and nearly NO activity ever planned for the students, what is this money being used for. This sentiment was echoed nearly two years later by a senator in the student body, in her letter to the editor dated 05/02/2005, she states, “As far as the students' budget goes, I motioned that we post the budget for the students viewing, yet as the minutes show, it was voted against. No one has advised us to recruit a commissioner of finance, nor have we been encouraged to "pursue other outreach methods to students" (Amory Cariadus). Amory Cariadus, our adviser, has told us after we inquired that we had a beginning budget of approximately $100,000. But we have never been given any exact numbers. Again, interviews were conducted, article written, plug was pulled. Our advisor “advised” against it. Because we need to maintain a good “relationship” with the them.
This is coming from a NEWSpaper which contained hardly any news, the jokers in the class would always wait until to last minute, whips out an “opinion” piece or a review to a movie/album/restaurant. I left the program in disgust and forever changed my view on journalism.
I learned something very valuable in those incidents. I learned that the freedom of speech and freedom of press is a very powerful right, but only if it is actually given. We have so many political, institutional and social aspects to consider that saying what we want is just inapt.
I learned that as it is not the job of a journalist to attempt to make changes. It is the job of a journalist to document an event that occurred, in a given time. A snapshot if you will.
I also forgot something that I’ve learned. In my last post, I included information that was not acquired, in a journalistic sense, admissible. Hearsay if you will. Although the information was correct and factual, the method itself was less than honorable. I misused the confidential trust of that particular person, and for that I apologize.
posted by The World Against Me at 1:10 PM
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