Guest Writing for MediaShift

Read my post on MediaShift here. It's titled "Embedded at NYU: Old Thinking Permeates Major Journalism School."

But might help if you read this first:

I was asked this summer to write some guest posts for the popular blog on PBS.org called MediaShift. At the time, I jumped on the idea because... um... I LOVE to write! And also because I was (and am) a big fan of the kinds of topics that are brought up on the site.

It's all about digital journalism and new media -- how print is moving online and what kinds of changes we are seeing as a result. Very soon everything will be online and we need to learn how to adapt to a wider audience as well as a larger community of "journalists." These days anyone who has access to the internet is, in fact, a journalist because they are inputting information that -- for someone, somewhere -- is newsworthy.

As time went by this summer and it got closer to the school year, I started getting a bit nervous about what exactly I would write on MediaShift. I didn't know that many professors or department heads... or even students for that matter.

How or when would I get a chance to interview these people and get a good story angle for a post on this major blog? What would be interesting to read? How could I avoid coming across as a naive student? And lastly... WHEN WOULD I FIND THE TIME? (If you know me, you know how busy I am with school, work, and "socializing" hehe).

Finally, I came to the conclusion that it would be interesting to chronicle my experience in the one journalism course I am taking at NYU this year. It's the closest thing to "new media" that I could find and I figured it could be a cool case study. I could talk about what it's like to be in this class, what are the pros and cons, how NYU is making the transition to more modern courses, etc.

Well, I went ahead and wrote about my class... but after finishing my article I realized that I might be taking a big risk in publishing my feelings on a course that I am going to get a grade in. I criticized the course, the school, and the professor.

At first I was nervous that A) My professor would get mad B) My professor would give me a bad grade C) Other people affiliated at NYU would call me out on my actions or how I have the wrong impression, etc.

But after sending in my piece I relaxed a little bit and thought to myself, "But it's the truth!" I wrote honestly on my feelings and opinions. And that's more important to me than trying to stay on someone's good side or getting a good grade. Already I realize I have a lot of things going for me and taking a risk with my grades or school is no longer as scary as it would have been if I were a Freshman.

As I write this, however, I have just been informed that my post is on the top of Romenesko and titled "J Student says having to NYT to class is a drag." Sigh. My teacher told us repeatedly that her favorite site was Poynter. I think I have some explaining to do, hahah.

Luckily, I have already decided that my next post for MediaShift will be THE OTHER SIDE of the story -- my teacher's thoughts, other student's thoughts, etc.

And... much like the day I was mentioned all over ValleyWag and the internet for the Twitter Song... I sort of enjoy being talked about. It keeps me on my toes and I have learned so much from it.