A Thought from Mass Comm. Class

I often tell people that I am a Journalism major, and their first question always seems to be,”So how do you feel about the fact that print journalism is being replaced by online blogging and instant news sources?” It's a loaded question to ask, but I've had a while to contemplate it. As technology increases, so does the demand and general expectation to have information faster and individually filtered on command. And with sites such as Twitter on the rise, there seems to be a non-stop stream of words and information. But after reading this article (URL attached below), an important question has been raised in my mind. How much of this “news” is true and valid information?

I do this thing sometimes where I try and see how long I can talk without stopping the verbal-flow of my conversation with myself. The longest I've ever gone is ten minutes, and that's only because my roommate got tired of hearing me ramble and stopped me. But what I've noticed is that to fill the empty spaces that pop up in normal conversation I had to throw in a lot of random, pointless stuff. They were gap-fillers, they had no real meaning in my “conversation.” I think this is what happens with instant news reporting nowadays. There is this pressing stress to be the fastest to stream information and the first to do so, and this is where a lot of mis-information gets out: through this stress-driven need to fill the lag in time that factual reporting creates.

But the fact is that although we have disillusioned ourselves to think we need news on the when and where we want, the truth is that we really just want it. It's the basic struggle of a technologically growing culture that digs into the human desire to have the best and newest of everything, including news. So we decide to take quantity over quality. I mean, the rumors get sorted out eventually, and a little false alarm every once in a while is good for our cardiovascular systems.

But let us not forget that we still have the dying breed of print journalism. It might be the dinosaur of communication, but it sure is a lot more accurate and fact-laden than any other crowd-sourced media outlet found readily on the internet. Facts are checked, police and medical records are searched, the truth is spoken (unless it's The Onion). Even though there is a lag in time, the information is much more reliable than anything posted on Twitter or Facebook.

So I guess what it comes all down to is where your needs and wants lie. If you feel that you really need to hear what's going on 24/7, regardless of truth or accuracy, then keep following your online sources, but if you're okay with not hearing about the worlds problems every second of your life and relish your daily, factual newspaper, then that is the route I recommend. It's all a matter of the balance between quality or quantity.

http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/boston-manhunt-2013-4/

Life with Lee-Lee

This is my best friend. Yeah, I know, it's clear who the weirdo is in this friendship. (Just so you know, she's almost as strange as I am, she's just better at acting normal.)

In all seriousness though, I don't think I could function properly without Heather. Not just because she helps me keep a shred of matureness in my life, but also because she is the best friend I could ever ask for.

She's one of the sweetest, more caring people I know. But she's not a pushover. Oh no. Not Heather. She keeps me in line, in more ways than one. I don't even know if I'd wake up in the morning if is wasn't for her. And our room would look like a a tornado hit.

But it's not just her responsibility that makes her so amazing. This girl keeps me sane and grounded. I'm not the most constant person when it comes to my mood (give me a break, I'm a sanguine), and she puts up with my mood swings like a true soldier.

I'm gonna be honest and admit that I've never really been one for having close friends that are girls, it never worked out well for me. But Have Lee-Lee as my roommate (2 years and still kicking!) and my awesome best friend has meant so much to me. She's changed my life, opened my eyes to see a new way, and put up with my craziness.




My Dearest Heather,

I love you like a fat boy loves double chocolate fudge cake with chocolate frosting and colorful sprinkles.

Love, Sam

Make Someone's Day

I'm a really spontaneous person and I absolutely love that. But I realize that because of that, what flies out of my mouth isn't always something I'm proud of. I'm sad to admit that I've become a very sarcastic person and a hypocrite as well. I'm hurt when I'm made the joke of any conversation continually, and yet that seems to be all that I do to others now.

So to anyone I've hurt, I want you to know that I am deeply sorry and I want to thank you for sticking by my side. I haven't been a very nice person and I hope you can forgive me. But I also want you to do something for me: join me in a challenge.

My goal is to do something special for one person a day, for the rest of the month. It doesn't have to be earth-shattering, but it needs to mean something. Let the people that are closest to you know how much they mean to you.

Make someone's day, every day.

"Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart." -1 Peter 1:22

Crackalackin'

My Surrender

No one dislikes confrontation more than me. I feel like if I convince myself and everyone else that everything's okay, the better off everyone will be. I mean, a positive outlook changes life, right?

It really does, but only when you're genuinely feeling positive. Putting on a front only temporarily fixes the problem from the outside. And it really takes a toll on all that compacted emotion that you shove down inside. Trust me, I've been playing this game all year. A smile here, a laugh there, a perfectly crafted existence to sell to everyone around me. But it's all coming back, and today I realized something.

To put it bluntly, I'm not okay. I have lost sight of what's important in life and I'm just trudging from day to day, trying to keep a smile plastered on my face for my friends and family. I'm miserable and I can't hide it any longer. Piece by piece my life is falling apart in front of my face and the more I try to fix it, the faster it's crumbling. I admit that for the past few months, the devil as been getting the best of me.

But this isn't a pity post. No. This is a post about awakening to the fact that when I try to run my own life, everything falls apart. I have hit an all-time low this week and I'm not afraid to admit it: I need help. Help from my friends, my family, perhaps even a random stranger. But the most important thing for me right now, is admitting that I need help from God.

I'm finally handing the wheel over to the only one who can make sense of this crazy life of mine. I'm laying down all of my cares and worries to the One who can make good out of anything and anyone.

Today, I'm surrendering my life to God. Again.

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