9.25.2007

Do I care about the news?

As a journalism student, I do believe it is important to follow the news. But with today's fragmented media, it is much easier to only follow the news that you want to follow. I try to keep up with major headlines as much as I can, but I truly only pay close attention to those issues that I care about.

I wake up in the morning and open my laptop. That is where I get most of my news. I have my favorite web sites tabbed at the top of my browser to make things a little easier. After checking my email, I read up on the latest music news on various web sites. Then, I check the local weather. And sometimes, I see what the top headlines are at CNN.

The rest of my day is spent finding things out through word of mouth, reading the Daily Beacon and listening to NPR in my car. If I want to know more about something, I will read about it online when I get home (or during class).

One thing that has definitely changed recently is my interest in world news and politics. Too many important things are happening across the globe for me to ignore. With people dying in wars and from disease, I try to pay as much attention as I can to these problems and how the world's leaders are planning to change them.

But I do think there will always be a part of me that wishes I could get all my news by talking to the neighbors from my front porch rocking chair. I could spend my morning hiking in the mountains and my afternoons rocking away with a glass of tea. I guess that's what retirement is for - I can't wait.

9.23.2007

Bio

I recommend studying something you enjoy in college. After a few years of struggling to stay afloat, I finally found something I am passionate about. Studying Journalism and Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee has given me the chance to discover a passion for radio. I have always loved giving people music, and now I have found a way to do that on a mass scale.

I spent this past summer interning at a local independent radio station, WDVX, where I learned how to mix live music for a radio audience as well as put on a radio show. I loved knowing that I had an audience to play good music for that they may have never heard before.

For more information about my education and experience, as well as contact information, please take a look at my resume.

Biography

I left for college thinking I would study art in some capacity, but after enrolling in zero art classes upon my arrival, I was forced to think twice.

Five years later, I am finishing my tour of duty at the University of Tennessee studying Journalism and Electronic Media. Somewhere along the way I realized something.

My love of writing is what first led me to consider journalism. Although my methods of poetry, music and art are not the usual methods of mass communication, I believe people are truly changed through these media. And when I realized that I could simply change people by showing them the best and brightest creators of these media, I had found my passion.


Ever since I received my first double-decked tape player in 8th grade, and then a computer with a CD burner later in high school, I haven't stopped making music mixes for friends.

So when I began taking classes in journalism, I jumped at the chance to work in radio. 90.3 The Rock, UT's independent radio station stays alive with the help of student deejays and producers. I worked as a deejay last fall and loved the opportunity to play good music for a mass audience. Then, this summer I interned at another local independent radio station, WDVX. I rode my bicycle to the station everyday to learn how to mix live music for radio as well as how to put on a radio show.

I was given the chance to do everything myself by the end of the summer, and I succeeded under the pressure of mixing sound for a live concert and putting on a four-hour-long radio show.


If you would like to know more about my education and experience, or if you would like contact information, please take a look at my resume.