Final post

This is my last class blog post. It comes at a time, as a senior, when I'm nearing graduation. The job market looked dismal. I don't really know what I'm going to do, although I know what I'd like to do.

I just read this interesting poynter article all about the importance (or lack-thereof) of journalism degrees. More and more people are being hired for multimedia skills rather than education or experience in traditional forms of reporting. I suppose those are just things you can learn on the job. With everyone going online, or to video, people want computer skills, XHTML skills, photoshop, anything they can get their hands on. The reporter is becoming a jack of all trades.

Some parents are even asking if it's still worth it for their children to pursue degrees in journalism. That's a bad sign.

I guess all I can say is that I'm glad I plan on going into audio production/recording. It may not pay as well as a journalism career, but I'd find it wholly rewarding. And who knows, maybe I'll write on the side. Good luck everyone.

Research

In researching for my Jour420 final project, I've stumbled upon some interesting things. My topic went from a general "photojournalistic ethics" paper to photograph manipulation and philosophical perspective. I've come across many interesting photos, and combinations of photos, that would work well to discuss in my research paper.

This image is a digitally edited combo of the next two:

I've also gathered a lot of interesting quotes that have really helped me focus my thesis.

Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled, with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing things historians usually record, while on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry. The story of civilization is the story of what happened on the banks. . . . -Will Durant

Deep, I know. I think I can make a real go of this paper. I was worried it might end up being a general history, past, present, future kind of thing, but I now see the direction I want to take it. Now I just need to get started on it...

Change (for newspapers)

Obama's win was historic. Whether or not he'll be a good president is nobody's guess. Newspapers around the world made sure their readership knew the significance (or lack thereof) of Obama's win.

I thought this one was funny. Sure, it centered Obama but there is no dominant image. It's not at least 2x the size of the next largest image/module. That's a no-no. Especially on such a significant day, you'd think they'd run a full page about Obama's win, with a huge image to boot.

I really liked this front page. Sure, it's not very structured in the traditional sense, but it gets the point across, and it's very appealing to the eye. It makes good use of alternate story form (ASF) : quotes around the image.

This one was pretty good too, although I think it's a bit much to say Obama's win "shattered racial barriers." I don't like the font/face of the headline, either. "History." I don't know. Sort of lame.

Some European papers did a decent job, although they were a day late, naturally, being that their publications for the day were already out by the time Obama was elected, etc.

4 years of German allowed me to read some of these papers with relative ease:

Kleine Zeitung did a good job with this one. I like the photo, and I really like the headline (translates to "Will he make the world better?"). They don't come out and say he WILL make the world better. Or "Change." I dig it.

This one was pretty lame. The photo is good (human emotion), but it's in weird position and the change illustration is annoying.

I also didn't like this Brazilian paper's front page. The photo captured the sea of people at Obama's victory speech, but it doesn't tell the story. Obama won. The sea of people is meaningless, in the long run. Upon first glance at this page, your eye should be drawn to Obama, but it just doesn't work.

Journalistic Edumacation.

Having just read Amy Gahran's interesting article on why J-Schools should cooperate more with other departments (Computer Science, Business, etc.), I have to agree with her; the University of Illinois' Journalism department should be cross-referencing classes with other departments to create a wider spectrum of education. How about a business-writing class? Or just a class on stock-market lingo for those interested? Anything like that. I'm sure a whole set of classes could be taught on blogging and other alternative forms of media.

Having said that, I am a strong proponent of college as a general education institution. Maybe J-Schools should be more focused on the general education of their students, and not the hardcore training they seem to be pursuing...

I know the training is good and all, but I came to college to learn like I went to high-school to learn. I didn't know what I wanted to do (with any certainty) in high-school just as I'm pretty clueless in my senior year at UIUC. But to jump back on the other side, I suppose the journalism curriculum is a little different from others'. I suppose you can't "train" someone to be a neurobiologist... you can only teach him/her about neurobiology. They'd get the training they need on the job or from working their way through the ranks.

I think the journalism departments should be considering/trying to participate with other departments in getting more "modern" concepts to J-students, but I don't think they should lose sight of the big picture: we're here to learn, not prepare for a job... or am I mistaken? I didn't come to UIUC for a trade-school experience...

Jobs.

Well, graduation is steadily approaching. Last weekend my brother came in to visit. He's been in North Dakota for 2 years working for the National Weather Service -- yep, he's a weatherman. So of course all of the usual suspects were at our house. We got to talking about college and hour my cousins would be deciding on colleges to attend in the next couple of years. My Aunt turns to me - giggling to herself - and asks me rather bluntly "so Graham, what are YOU going to do with your life?" Haha. Very funny, Aunt Mary.

Now, I'm not angry she asked me that. It's a legit question. I really am sort of confused as to what I'm going to do when I graduate in May. But she could have asked me in a more polite manner.

All of these journalism layoffs and cutbacks are scary. It was my original intention to pursue a career as a photojournalist. That later turned into print journalism with a focus on music and the arts. Now I've become so involved in recording and mixing music for myself, my band and others' that I can't really see myself entering the journalism field full-time.

I suppose that's not a bad idea consider all that is going on. I just read this article, among many others, which show scary trends in the field.

I'm pretty confused as to where I should turn after I graduate, but I think we all are. We can only hope internships will save us from the crappy job market.

I suppose I'll just grab my bass and move to France for a few years. That sounds like fun.

And now it affects me personally... *sigh*

Normally I wouldn't write about this as some might take it as a free plug for my band, but I recently read an interview featuring one of the owners of the record label we're on. Let's just say it was pretty bad; mistakes galore. Granted, I think the reporter works for the San Diego equivalent of Metromix, but I'd like to think they'd properly edit this interview.

First, it's "The Static Cult Label" not "Static Cult Label."
Second, there's no capital "I" in "static."
Third, I don't know about you guys, but I don't think the lede helps give any credibility to the story or the reporter. Stoned? Seriously? C'mon.
Fourth, "retro"microphones? Isn't retro descriptive of something in imitation? Wouldn't vintage be more appropriate?
"Four-reeler"? *sigh*

This entire interview is a mess. I'm embarrassed Fotosputnik and The Static Cult Label are a part of it.

I guess I'll do that plug now:

Static Cult Label's artists cover a wide sonic range, from dirty punk to space drone to Chicago's Fotosputnik, described by Parton as neon kids who play "German sounding driving music." Still, the bands all manage to sound at home in the analog environment that is the backbone of Parton and Kooper's musical philosophy

See what I mean? What the #@%@ is that about? "Neon kids?" I have no idea what a neon kid is. Is it just something you replace with any ol' weird noun (e.g. robots, wizards, taikonauts)? Who knows. And shouldn't that be "German-sounding?" My point is that this interviewer did a poor job in writing this article, or whoever edited it (if anyone did) messed up.

The last few paragraphs are the same paragraph copied over and over... See? Whatever. It just makes me angry. Now, I'm not the best writer either, as you can all tell from this informal blog, but after a half-semester of J420, I feel like I've learned a lot. Maybe I wouldn't have picked out those errors before...

The Combat Photographer

Last week we discussed the moral dilemmas some editors face in deciding to publish a potentially violent or disturbing photograph. I mentioned my affinity for war photography. I thought it would be relevant to actually show and detail some war photos that I not only find interesting and artistic (in a sense), but photos that can tell the whole story...

Be WARNED - Some of these photos are pretty graphic.

Robert Capa: An American soldier killed by German snipers in Leipzig, Germany, April 18th, 1945.









Larry Burrows: A wounded U.S. marine gunnery sergeant instinctively moves toward his dead commanding officer at Mutter Ridge, Nui Cay Tri, Vietnam, October 5, 1966.











Robert Capa: A Spanish Loyalist is shot in Spain, 1936.












Henri Huet: A U.S. Marine chaplain gives war correspondent Dickey Chapelle her last rites after she stepped on a landmine in Chu Lai, Vietnam, 1965. Notice her pearl earrings.










Would you run these photos? I purposely tried to find photos with graphic content. There are many, many photographs I think tell important stories that have no dead bodies, or guns, for that matter, but I thought these photos followed the same moral dilemmas we faced in our editing class.

Personally, I would have run all of these. Each is important in its own right. At the very least, I would run these in black & white. What do you all think?