Journalists = bullseyes

So I guess it's safe to say that going overseas for an article isn't really worth it. From what I learned, you don't get much of a bonus and basically it could be looked at by your boss as a "paid vacation." F-ck that. I would never go to Iraq or Israel or any place dangerous (or in the Middle East) just to get the "inside scoop." I don't think a job is worth your life. Especially a job that doesn't pay you six figures.

As I was watching this I almost couldn't believe my eyes. SO many people have been killed for stupid reasons. One guy, for instance, was killed because he peeked his head out to see what was going on.

Other instances even evoked fear. I was actually scared for some guys when they were being threatened because of their articles. If I was ever threatened because of something I wrote I would totally leave the country and stop writing. A life isn't worth any amount of words unless you want to be a martyr, which I have no plans on being.

I guess we can conclude that curiosity killed the cat-- or the reporter in this case.

A change of heart

After carefully rethinking my first proposal, I've decided that the Ethics of Interpersonal Communication might be a little on the boring side. Actually, it would be on the boring side and I would also probably not have enough words to fill the requirement. With this sudden change of heart, I decided that it would be best to talk about the ethics of road construction regarding the incidents of Snake Hill.

Alright, as you can tell, this entry is being written on the fly. I just googled "Snake Hill" and I have come to the conclusion that I wouldn't have enough information to write a 1,000 word essay.

I would do a piece on Animal Rights, but I wouldn't be able to stop myself from being biased. I would probably start yelling at animal abusers through my words.

Right now I'm considering the ethics of eating meat. I'm sure that there is a lot of information out there and I'm sure that I could be able to talk to a vegetarian from Ramapo and a national against meat-eating spokesperson... but the question is, do I want to?

Actually, yeah, after reading some of the stuff it's pretty interesting. It can also branch out to human and animal rights. This could be pretty deep. I've decided I'll do it.

"Ethnicality" should be in the dictionary

...for believing in two sides of an ethical subject, leaving the person in question struggling to choose a side. This has been my toughest week in this class and ironically nothing is "due." We're supposed to come up with our ethics paper ideas, which has stumped me for about 6 days now. For some reason I can't seem to come up with a good topic that would provide me with an excess of information and a couple good interviews. My first choice was euthanasia, which provided me with a ton of information, but slim interviews. My second choice was going to be the ethics of road construction, regarding the case of Snake Hill...but that would be too like the documentary that I just saw and nobody likes to read things twice. So my final idea, which I hope is good enough, came from my major: Ethics of Interpersonal Communication. This would be a good topic because it encompasses the everyday ethics in everyday people. I could interview communication teachers and I could also introduce (or take polls) from everyday people (who would be interested in truly giving out their ideas).

If that doesn't work out I'll go with Snake Hill.

Progress makes me happy

I think I made a breakthrough with my latest interview(s). My first one with a local firefighter and a firefighter's wife was a little on the unprofessional side. For one, I asked more than three questions (this was before you gave us the golden rule), and I stuttered... a lot. Before I even asked the questions, I made sure that they knew it was my first interview (this then took some pressure off my back). Not gonna lie, I was nervous even with my notebook and already written out questions.
On the brighter side, interview(s) part II was a great success. I got the pleasure to interview two (somewhat) local Yoga instructors and their views on Wii Fit. I asked them about three questions each and I was much more confident this time. I feel like the major difference was that they knew I wasn't a professional, and I knew they knew that I knew that (catch my drift?). It also helped that these two were much more friendly and were impressed by my Quality of Life topic. That helped a little.
All in all, I'm proud of myself and I'm getting better. In time, I'm sure I'll make a great interviewer.

merci

I guess we can say that my interest in newswriting has decreased over time. At first I was a fan of the class (being a small one), but now I find myself stressing over interviews and keeping up with "blogs." I feel like school in a large way is a sort of internship for the "Real World." This internship is about becoming associated with the press and newswriting. I'm so glad I took this class because if I'm complaining about running around in Montville for an interview, imagine what it would be like if this were my career!? Thank you for steering me in the right direction, I feel like this class is an essential part of my education.