Love and journalism

I realize that not everyone in the multimedia class is considering photojournalism as a career, but there are a couple of us, so I thought I'd just bring up the topic of relationships. In the documentary class, one of the final words of wisdom from Johnny was that relationships are hard to maintain as photojournalists. He said that any of us who intended on taking on the mantle should be prepared to miss those special occasions -- birthdays, anniversaries, date nights (but never, ever miss the birth of a child) -- should we choose to have a longterm significant other.

I'm not saying that it's impossible. I'm sure it is. But it's often quoted that journalism is a lonesome business:

• "Working as a photojournalist can be lonely and difficult." ~ Aidan Sullivan, vice president for for editorial photographer relations of Getty Images
• "The job can be lonely, and patience and perseverance are required to get the right shot, at the right time." ~Skillset.org

I'm not really trying to be a doom-and-gloom type, but I just always here about the solitary photographer, the lonesome and dogged photojournalist hauling around half a dozen cameras with a slightly bewildered and anti-social glaze in his or her eyes.

Just to show you it's not all dark and unhappy, I did find a short piece -- multimedia, in fact -- about maintaining relationships in hard places. I mean, a lot of it is general tips and hints, but it all pertains to the topic at hand. So take it all in, enjoy it all, and love makes the world go 'round. ... well, that and a couple of overbearing cosmic forces. Or God. Whichever. Anyway, here's the link.
Yes, I did all that just to lead up to a RickRoll'ing. Ha!
See y'all around.

The hazards of our job

So I've always wanted to be a wartime journalist. Don't know why, never asked. It worries the hell out of my family and friends, and some have threatened to break my legs if I ever try to embed with a unit anywhere other than Antarctica. But the desire persists.

So here's a link to Reporters without Borders.

I was trying to find something specific on the site to write about, but the whole thing is interesting.

weekend workshops besides us

How many people know about the Indypendent? Check out this article about
Journalism Workshops.

Media Bistro - for finding jobs and other such things

I stumbled across an old e-mail about Media Bistro, a Web site that lists journalism jobs by date posted, sells tutorials and lists classes offered online and around the country regarding journalism. Some topics for the classes include:

The Future of Photojournalism in a Digital World

How Online Video Is Changing the Internet

Writing for the Web

There are even classes about book writing and how to get books published, writing for television, etc.

There is also an area of the website dedicated to listing freelancers by specialty.

Because one occasionally needs to vent

So this has nothing to really do with multimedia, but it's an interesting perspective on the career which most of us seem to have chosen. AngryJournalist is a place to just vent about stuff that irks you in your pursuit of truth and journalistic integrity. Or in your pursuit of a good job. Anyway, I thought some of the commentary was ... enlightening ... and interesting. It's all anonymous, but it's still worth a look. Some people bring up really interesting points, whilst others whine about things, and then there's the occasional dork who tries to be cheery.

One thing I notice throughout most of the pages are people complaining about other journalists and editors who don't see a point in going digital.

Introduction

Hi my name’s Adam Lipper. I’m a senior majoring in magazines. I’m also majoring in sociology, mainly because I came in with a lot of hours and had no idea what to do with them, and minoring in German.

It seems at Grady there are numerous things the professors say you must do if you want to be journalist. You must spend half your days reading the newspaper, you have to have worked at five internships... Now it seems we must learn how to report on the web. While I’ve taken their advice to heart, I haven’t spent too much time learning how to report on the internet. I hope this class will provide me the sufficient skills needed to become a journalist or at least give me an advantage over other aspiring journalists.