The truth about journalism

Journalism is dead

In June 2005, beloved Print Journalism passed away at Ventura and Oxnard colleges and entered into blessed video feed via Moorpark College. It was found dead in stacks of newspapers thrown into recycling and trash bins across the county.

Print Journalism is survived by its offspring: broadcast news, blogging and podcasts. Print Journalism’s offspring became so popular among today’s youth that readers left behind Print Journalism and went to its successor, the World Wide Web.

Print Journalism was starved for attention because alternative media outlets including YouTube, MySpace, Facebook and blogging Web sites, like Perezhilton.com, featured more entertaining content, like knowing what everyone’s friends were doing at all times and watching dogs skate board. These outlets also provided access to breaking stories anytime, anywhere (regardless if they were well researched or not).

Print Journalism eventually starved to death.

It has been rumored very recently that Print Journalism may be brought back to life, but officials at the college district deny the possibility of any imminent resurrection, despite what professors feel is vital to the future of journalism as a whole.

Funeral services have already been held but nobody attended the event because there was no way to report it.

Bring journalism back

A sad obituary, considering I am a journalism alumnus from Oxnard College. I remember feeling shocked and disappointed when I heard the Oxnard College Campus Observer was no longer in print and all print journalism classes had been cancelled. Then, the Ventura College Press, which had been around nearly 80 years, was also laid to rest in 2005.

The death of print journalism at these schools means the death of journalism as we know it.

As far back as my parents can remember, reading the newspaper was a daily habit, as much as brushing their teeth in the morning. But in today’s world, especially today’s 20-somethings, we are somehow much busier than our parents and rarely have time to brush our teeth, never mind read the newspaper.

As we strategically organize our day, we set our priorities in order. And instead of opening the newspapers, we go to our computers.

First thing in the morning, we get to work, open our browsers, go to the homepage of our e-mail accounts, scan the random headlines, which usually have something to do with Britney Spears’ new hair style or whether or not Lindsay Lohan is homosexual, and then get to our e-mails. Any free time we have at work, we dedicate to clearing out all the wonderful junk e-mails relating to penis enlargement or looking younger or my personal favorite, the Nigerian government telling me to send all my information to them so I can have 10 percent of a $15 million payout after cashing their check.

Generation X and Y have not only written off world news because of our supposedly too busy schedules and traded it for celebrity fodder, and now we don’t even know what is going on locally. Our day begins with useless information and we bypass the papers that sit in our office corridors for reasons that cannot be explained.

Just because we have a variety of media outlets to turn to now, it doesn’t mean we should brush print journalism under the rug. And by offering only video feed courses, we are downgrading the importance of well-researched and investigated journalism. In all of my journalism classes, being able to establish rapport with my classmates and my professors was fundamental to learning the basics and even igniting the fire to become a dedicated reporter. In my experience, video feed/Webcast/telecommuting classes were very impersonal and ineffective in creating a sound foundation in what I was learning.

No one can avoid the sad reality already happening. With more than a dozen lay-offs this year at the Ventura County Star, and hundreds of layoffs and hiring freezes at newspapers across the country, it’s no wonder students are not demanding the return of journalism programs. At the moment following a journalism career may be unpredictable, but what isn’t? Layoffs have been happening all around the country in most industries.
The endless rumors and actual transactions of newspapers being sold across the country reveal a society disinterested in their daily local and world print news sources. If papers were making the money they used to, owners wouldn’t be so willing to get out from underneath them. The integrity of long form, critical thinking journalism is losing ground rapidly and being replaced with instantly gratifying news, i.e., sound bite journalism.

As parents and concerned citizens, it is our responsibility as a collective whole to encourage our children to go into journalism and demand our community colleges bring back journalism. Print journalism is the foundation to a well educated and informed community. Therefore, we cannot ignore the importance of having these programs available. Blogging and podcasts should not be considered the new wave of journalism.

My suggestion to the officials for Ventura and Oxnard colleges is to bring journalism back in its best form, print journalism, to be able to provide our communities, our children and ourselves with well-researched and well-written reporting in the future.