Final Reflective Blog

1. What did you know about journalism, citizen journalism, and blogging before you took the course?
Before taking this class I knew very little about citizen journalism and blogging. To be honest I never read a blog until now. My understanding of blogging was minuscule. My perception of blogging was that it was a way for people who weren’t professional journalist to voice their opinions. I never took much thought as to what citizen journalism and blogging are until I took this lovely course. I guess I was sitting under rock while all of my friends were creating live journals and such because I really didn’t know what a live journal was until I met Tal. After taking this class I now know much more about citizen journalism and blogging.

2. What did you learn about journalism, citizen journalism, and blogging through readings and discussions?
I learned a great deal of information on citizen journalism and blogging through the readings and discussions. Being a communications major I knew pretty much what journalism was but what I did not know what citizen journalism and blogging were all about. Through this class I learned that anyone can be a reporter technically. If you want to write about an issue you feel strongly about you can do it on the Internet. You can start a blog and write whatever you want to write about on it. Through the readings and discussions I learned that sometimes citizen journalists and bloggers capture the news before a news organization can. I also learned that citizen journalist and bloggers can many times obtain information that the news organization would not have access to.

Before taking this class I didn’t know what citizen journalism was. I know have a better understanding of citizen journalism after having to complete the assignments. The discussions and readings brought about a number of topics including are citizen journalist really journalist. Some people think they are while others believe they are a branch of journalism. I think many people are really just unsure of what citizen journalism is and they have trouble trusting it because it is not always reliable.

When it came to blogging I really only knew it as a way people expressed themselves. I looked at blogging as an online diary for people to write about their lives for all to see. After taking this class I learned that blogs serve as more than just a diary. Blogs are used when people want to give their opinion, inform others on a topic they care about, as well as provide feedback and suggestions to give a few examples. Blogs are on the rise. Through the readings and discussion I think that blogs are going to become the next big thing. They are going to become a form of communication that people use on an everyday basis like checking their e-mail, people will also be checking their blogs.

3. Describe your experience with the hands-on element with a focus on what you learned, the educational value, and the application to the real world.
a. Use of technology
When it comes to technology I can say I never want to work in a field with computers. However; I thought having to do the audio and video podcasts were a nice change from paper writing and test taking but I did not enjoy all the problems that came with the technology and programs. It was just frustrating when you would complete an audio podcast and then it would not work and there was nothing you could do about it. However; besides the technical difficulties I thought learning how to create these projects will definitely help me in the future. Knowing how to make movies for example is a great tool to have in the workplace and even out of the workplace. I thought it was also cool that what we learned about technology in the classroom we were able to practice outside of the classroom. In our discussions we were constantly talking about how technology is advancing and if you do not know how to use it you will be lost. Technology is also becoming a huge part in journalism and many other careers so knowing how to use it can give you an advantage over someone else. This class really broadened my skills with technology and the software programs that I think will really help me when I start looking for jobs in a few short days

b. Covering stories/events/issues relevant to Albright/Reading Community
I thought covering stories/events/issues relevant to Albright and the Reading Community was a great idea because it made it interesting to write about. I didn’t mind covering the stories or events because many of them involved me, my friends or just Albright in general. It was fun finding out interesting events happening at Albright and what issues were being discussed. It was much easier to cover stories these stories too because we could get information from the sources we needed. I also met a lot of new people on Albright’s campus by having to do these assignments. I met faculty members, administration and even more students. It is funny to say this but I graduate soon and now know even more people especially the administration than I did before. Contacting sources and conducting interviews provided me with a ton of information for my assignment. As the semester went on I could tell my interviewing skills were getting better each time. I felt less nervous each time I did an interview and felt more confident as well. Doing these assignments and conduction the interviews made me really feel like a journalist. I think it was good practice if someone wanted to have a profession in the journalism field.

c. Class Critiques of blogs/podcasts
At first I was not too fond of having my work critiqued in front of the class. It made me feel like I was in middle school again when the teacher would make you go to the board and do a math problem while the rest of the class watched. And if you didn’t know how to do the problem it was the most embarrassing experience. This is how I felt about the critiques at first. I was a little worried that anyone could look at our work on the Internet. I am really self conscious and worry that people will not think my work is good so I really did not like the idea of all of our assignments being posted on the Web. I do know that this is the point of the class though and after a few weeks I learned to not mind as much. Maybe it was the fact that not many people read the blogs or that I was becoming more comfortable with the work I produced, I am not really sure.

What I do know is that after surviving the first critique I really did not mind the rest. I did think it was helpful to see how others went about doing their projects and it game me ideas for my future assignments. I thought that everyone gave great feedback and were respectable when critiquing someone else’s assignment. It made me feel good when people would give me supportive feedback and told me that they thought I did a nice job. I think the critiques were helpful because they provided for the most part positive feedback.

d. Freedom of blogging
I really enjoyed the freedom of blogging. I liked picking topics that really related to us. I think picking our own topics made it easier for me to really get into what I was doing my assignment on. I never really minded doing the assignments; sometimes they were actually kind of fun! Seeing the finished product was always something I looked forward to.

In the real world if you are a blogger, usually you are allowed to pick your topic so I think choosing our topics was a good way to prepare us for the real world. The fourth hour assignments were the only time that I felt like we were being forced to write about a particular thing. I just figured this was fine because we are still in a class and we have to cover certain issues.

4. Discuss what you now think/feel/believe about the role citizen journalism and blogging play in communication. Is blogging a form of journalism?
This class has opened my eyes to the fact that journalism is changing very quickly. Citizen journalism and blogging are also becoming very popular fields to get into. More and more people are becoming bloggers and citizen journalists than ever before. I think without them there would be a lot of news and information that is not covered. I think they help to provide information, opinions and new topics.

I think that blogging is a form of journalism but I do not consider it the same journalism as I do a newspaper. I think that people who work for a newspaper are journalist but those who are bloggers I consider a branch off of journalism.