Final Blog Post, Pamela Di Pinto

This past semester, I have learned many things from this course:

As a journalist, it is important to edit any piece of work before it goes to press or gets published to the online world. Journalists shouldn't rely solely on the efforts of copy editors to ensure that there are no mistakes, either grammatical, spelling or style related, in their work. Ricki mentions this in an earlier blog post, when she says, "journalists and writers themselves are responsible for proofreading their work." In doing so, it makes them better writers overall. It follows the mentality that we learn from making our own mistakes. Journalists are founded on accuracy and relied upon to report the facts, so when audiences find mistakes in their work, it can reflect poorly on them. However, making the mistake firsthand and understanding why it is wrong means that it is less likely to appear in a journalist's work again. Craig Silverman's website, We Regret the Error, puts this idea into practice, "noting media corrections, retractions, apologies, clarifications and trends regarding accuracy and honesty in the press." Self-editing your work is crucial in this industry, and I am glad I have had the chance to practice it through my online portfolio (class blog) this semester.

The main thing that I learned, though, is how beneficial blogs and other forms of social media can be as a journalist. At the beginning of the semester, I had no idea how to blog, and I wasn't even sure how it applied to this industry. Now, I realized that blogging is a great way to promote your "brand," and attract potential readers even before being hired on at an official publication. They enable you to exercise your skills and, perhaps more importantly, your freedom as a writer. You can even use blogs to experiment with audio or video podcasts, as well as photography. It's all about getting your name out there! Social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, are a great way of doing this. They can also be used for other journalistic purposes unbeknown to me before this semester. Now, as mentioned in an earlier blog post, I feel they are a tool that every journalist should use as a way of keeping people connected and informed.

It is important for me to incorporate technology into my writing. If I have learned anything from this first year as a journalism student, it is that our industry is shifting from traditional, print mediums to that of the online world. Editors aren't just looking for talented writers anymore; they are looking for journalists who are willing to embrace new technologies, and use them accordingly in their stories. This is what audiences are looking for too. A single block of text no longer constitutes as a story in the world of online journalism. Users beg to be involved in the process, and, in being open to new technologies, journalists can provide that. If this is where the industry is going, then I have to move with it!

From here, I hope to further the skills I have already acquired and put them towards my own blog, which I plan to start during the break. It's time to take my own advice and get my name out there!

Note: Image from wordpress.hayscisd.net

Here are the comments that I made on other people's blog posts throughout the semester:
Comment 1
Comment 2
Comment 3
Comment 4
Comment 5