Topsy Turvy

Well it's been an interesting week. Although I don't think I'm the only one wishing for Thanksgiving Break, I think the teachers might be feeling it more than the students this week. Not only did I have two guest speakers in my Journalism class due to the Missouri Honor Medal presentations this week, I also had the rare luxury of having optional class by two of my professors come Friday. Try as I might, however, one professor saw me and the other did not. I had planned on going to both, one at ten and the other at two, but my bed was way to comfortable for this sleep deprived college student. That is not to say that I slacked off on my earlier professor's task of the day. After spending this gloomy Friday in the library for an hour trying to make sense of Sherlock Holmes analysis, working on my TV style news video and figuring out how much of my weekend will be devoured by schoolwork, I finally sat down to watch my latest shows of Arrow, Beauty and the Beast, and The Big Bang Theory. My "exhausting" day has been actually really relaxing. I like when I can just leisurely go through all my criteria for a class project and not worry about when the due date is because I planned ahead of the game. I find this probably a bad omen due to the pressure in journalism with deadlines and them appearing to be about non existent from some of the guest speakers but I know that being able to see what's in front of me for a task is a good characteristic to have. The vision I have in my head, however, rarely comes out to reality.  I guess that was also seen in both my journalism classes this week. Our guest speakers, one from the New York Times over Info-graphics and the other over Investigative reporting from the Washington Post, explained how their types of journalism worked. Though both talked about the importance of presentation and deadlines. Common occurrences where you do what you can with a deadline. The information might not be all encompassing but if you're up against deadline just make a note of it with your story. I don't know how I feel about that but I also know you're trying to make the best story possible. You should at least be aware of what you are trying to get across but why should that mean leaving holes in your story?

I feel like this would be a societal issue rather than just a company issue. When did getting information need to be ASAP? I guess most people point at technology but even then, it seems like people just want a nano chip implanted into a notable person's head so that we can have access to whatever it is at the moment it happens. I don't think it has to be that quick. Like the Popeye's news pieces we discussed in our Cross Cultural class, we see the notoriety of the story but it does not have to be an inadequate story due to a tight deadline. It can wait. Now in the case of something like 9/11 or the Murrah Bombing coverage, yeah, you're going to go get as much information as you can regardless of if it is all there. You will want to retouch on those stories because, even though they are from a long time ago, they did have a place for the "give it to me right now" coverage. However I feel like people use this approach on everything nowadays. I don't have to know about the humane society right this second. I can wait to hear about the lower test scores tomorrow. I do not need to learn the contents of the newest movie, book, or vacation spot today. If it means that I would get a better representation of what you are showing to me tomorrow, than wait for tomorrow. I would like the better story more than the half done research today.