I really am not fond of calculus. I didn’t really understand when math turned from numbers, to letters, to arbitrary symbols. And why use a secret language when words are far more effective? Can’t I just use English to prove my points?
These are all concerns I hurled into the lap of my angelic, kind-eyed academic advisor during a particularly sweaty appointment. After much discussion about my passion for writing and my work with The Daily Cardinal, this saint looked at me and said “Marisa, you sound like a journalist.”
I am technically undecided on my major, but this year has thankfully given me much more direction. I took a journalism class last semester and was riveted by the discussion of journalism as a growing industry, because the idea which had been earlier beaten into my head was that the industry was dying.
As an 18-year-old freshman in college heading toward a journalism major, some may think I’ve thrown in the towel, and for a while they had me convinced of this as well. I, a reasonably intelligent girl, raised by one biology major and one finance major, chose a career in the humanities after 18 years of awkwardly avoiding the question: “Are you going into medicine like your dad?” I am irrationally afraid of needles but am enchanted by exceptionally organized words, which really makes my choice simple.
Merriam-Webster, while you have been so faithful and honest with me thus far in my life, I’m afraid that today you have let me down. This dictionary defines journalism as “the activity or job of collecting, writing, and editing news stories for newspapers, magazines, television, or radio,” which is an entirely outdated and too narrow of a definition. I will explain this bold claim and I really suggest you read on because a college freshman is literally going to publicly dispute Merriam-Webster.
This definition is obsolete because journalism is no longer limited to “newspapers, magazines, television, or radio.” Additionally, the traditional idea of a “news story” has expanded and progressed. Consider the last place you received news, and be honest with yourself. While Twitter does not have the same academic reputation as The New York Times, for example, it is not an inadequate place to acquire news. I follow several accounts that produce news as though it were still in the paper, and I can honestly say it is the source of the majority of the news that I consume on a daily basis.
Despite many public beliefs, journalism is not dying. It is evolving and exploding. Everyone has something to report, and news rarely goes unnoticed thanks to social media (yes, your tweet actually does count as journalism). However, the mediums in which the public receives the news are what have willed people to believe that journalism has almost entirely evaporated.
Not all journalism is great. There is no momentous information buried within Miley Cyrus’s heinously photoshopped Instagram posts. However, it is still a public post in which one is able to potentially discover new information. For example, she really loves drag queens and glitter. Alternatively, consider when Kim Kardashian posted photos of her “secret trip” to Paris and days later the media revealed for certain that she was in fact getting married. My lamenting heart aches as I type this, but Kim K is a journalist, my friends. She beat the media to the punch on this particular “news story” by way of social media.
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Yik Yak, etc. are all avenues of journalism that were born long after the original idea of journalism was developed. That does not mean they do not fit a more modern definition. Because I claimed the standing definition of journalism is false, it is only fitting I provide one to leave you with.
Journalism: the practice of broadcasting events, incidents, opinions or happenings by means of any publicly accessible platform.
This is by no means a perfect or permanent definition. That is what is so alluring about this field—it is limitless and endlessly expanding.
I have not yet officially declared a major yet, so thankfully I still have time to putz around and rule out various majors in the math and science fields while continuing to have the paralyzing realization that I will likely never own a vacation home in Bora Bora. But I will be OK. As long as there is news and as long as there is Kim Kardashian, journalism will never die.
Marisa Bernstein is a freshman writer for The Daily Cardinal and is currently undecided on a major. What is your take on her opinion of modern journalism? Do you agree or disagree with her take on Kim Kardashian? We’d like to hear your view. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
