Hang in there J-Majors!

-Samantha Allen

As you sit in your class at Park at Ithaca College, biting the end of your Bic pen  and flipping through the newly-issued Missouri Group text "your-career-and-you" book, don't you ever wonder where all of this is going?

As a journalism major, I find at times that I am thoroughly confused. On the one hand, I've got very enthusiastic professors, inside and outside of the classroom, telling me not to worry, that my chosen occupation is important and that I'll go far. And then I've got people from the outside world, forcing down cognac and the bitter truth that maybe the industry is on it's way out, to a very unexpected funeral.

So where am I in all of this? -a very typical Sex and the City, Jessica-Parker sort of question, forgive me. Am I one of those people all dressed in white amidst the dark-clothing mourners, or am I a savior, riding in on my white horse convinced that I'll save journalism?

Today, in a special luncheon-hour presentation made by Dean Dianne Lynch of Park, in honor of the Society of Professional Journalists' (SPJ) JOURNALISM week, that question was answered. And definitely to this student's liking. ;)

Dianne Lynch urged the 15 or so students in attendance that journalism was not on its way out, but rather, enduring a massive change that would yield great opportunity for students in the (duh dum duhhhhh) Future.

Sure, we've heard all of this before, but listen to her reasoning! The market is changing, and we're all just trying to adapt - hence the freak-age by mostly seasoned-journalists of the legacy league.

"The business model [of journalism] is changing, not the industry model," Lynch said.

Think about it. The same thing happened with the introduction of radio broadcasts, and then televised news, and EVEN, with the copier.

Yes, that's my personal example but listen to this: how absurd is it that people actually thought copiers would mean the end of books? Corporate fat-cats who worried about the end of an industry (and that's really all that they are, guys) figured everyone would just start copying text, and no one would by.

But we've seen where radio, TV, and now where the internet is taking us...

To a new audience. 

Our loyal readers, listeners and viewers who have flocked to Internet, to sites like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook that urge the "it's all about you" mantra, are finally responding. So yes, the format of news has changed, and even its face. We just have to remember to bear our ever-present, and IMMEDIATE, audience in mind.

The point! Us college students have the advantage, we know how to make our NEWS fun, entertaining, interactive and altogether kick-ass. I say, job well done! 

IC Speaker's Illustrate Importance of Online Journalism

by Aly Dixon

Last night, speakers Vanessa Schneider, an Ithaca College Alum, and Wes Siler talked about their success due to the web's rising role in journalism.

Schneider, who now works at NYTimes.com as a news assistant, graduated from Ithaca College in 2007, double majoring in Journalism and Culture and Communication. She talked about what steps she took in order to reach the successful position she now has: internships, contacts and experience she received through working at the Ithacan. However, Schneider essentially said she would not have the position she holds today if it were not for the technical skills she acquired through being familiar with the web.

When she received her job, 100 workers for the print version of the New York Times were laid off, she told us. She claimed that her youth came in handy in getting her job since with youth comes the general knowledge of how online technology is used, and the ability to adapt and to learn the inner workings of the Internet.

While Schneider was convincing in illustrating the importance of the Internet in journalism today, Siler was undeniably clear on his view of the web's increasingly influential role in journalism.

Siler is a Road Test Editor for Jalopnik.com, which is a part of Gawker Media. Along with this, he is the editor and co-founder of Hell for Leather Magazine, an online motorcycle magazine.

Siler claims that print journalism, magazines especially, are slowly dying, and digital journalism is the only place to be. His ending note was a peice of advice to us journalists: any teacher that tells you print journalism is the most important or most prevalent medium is not doing their job.

These speakers really made me start evaluating the direction journalism is going in. Should anyone with a desire to work at their favorite magazine or newspaper give up all hope? Print journalism has been around for so long that it is hard to imagine a world without it, but could it be possible that we are moving completely in that direction. One thing is for sure; if we weren't thinking about it before, we definitely should start.