School has started again, life has started again, and honestly I’m stretched a bit thin. I’m in five classes, some of which are tough, and I’ve overcommitted myself again in extracurricular activities.

Not to sound all emo, but sometimes it just feels like you’re drowning. That claustrophobia, that tightness around your neck, that slow deprivation of air–air you need to breathe and to live.

Too many things, too many obligations, too many expectations, too many deadlines, too many missed deadlines, too many changes, too many plans, too many worries.

More accurately, “Do certain journalism platforms deserve to die?”

The death of print media, specifically newspapers, has been predicted for years. And while naysayers will point to the longevity of books as evidence that newspapers will never completely fade away, I remain reluctantly pessimistic. After all, even books compete with Kindle nowadays.

I recently watched a round table discussion that included Ira Glass, host of Chicago Public Radio/Public Radio International’s “This American Life” (and my personal journalism/public radio idol) and he literally said, quite frankly, that newspapers and network TV news deserve to die.

At first I was instinctively opposed to the idea. But the more I think about it, the more I agree…unless print journalism and major network news changes its behavior.

Both are catering to a dwindling customer base. People my age typically don’t watch the evening news nor read any major newspaper. But they’ll surf blogs, check their Twitter and search YouTube.

I think there will still be an audience for newspapers. After all, I love waking up in the morning to hot coffee and a crisp, unwrinkled stack of newsprint. But it’ll never survive if it doesn’t adapt to changing user demand.

The same goes for TV news. Mr. Glass said something that really resonated with me in the discussion, and that is that people want real journalism, but where commentary and opinion “kick journalism’s ass every time, is that commentary speaks to us in a normal tone of voice.”

He goes on to describe how corny the TV news voices that on-air talent use and how, when you think about it, it just doesn’t make much sense. I don’t talk to my friends or family in a “news voice,” so why would I want to listen to someone talk to me in one?

Glass said this, and I agree: that the reason shows like The Daily Show, Rachel Maddow, and the Colbert Report are so popular are that, though they inject commentary and entertainment, they talk to us about issues like we talk with our friends…in a normal, conversational tone.

And there’s a huge hole in journalism right now for a TV show or radio show or something that gives us real news journalism, just cold hard facts without opinion, in a normal tone of voice. Someone who can do that, would do very well, I think.

What do you all think? Do print/TV news deserve to die? Or should they change? Who will instigate the change? Will it be the people in the industry right now? Or young people our age who want to step up to the plate and offer fresh new ideas from a different perspective?

——

Here’s the round table.  Glass talks about the “death” of print journalism/TV news starting right at 38:00, but the whole thing is worth watching.

Isn’t it amazing that there are still things yet to be explained by science?

If you know me, you know that I am pretty much an insomniac. Once I’m asleep I love to sleep, but I’ll do everything in my will to not sleep to begin with. I always feel like I’m missing out on something or doing something when I’m asleep.

This yields a sleep schedule that is the height of irregular. I stay awake long into the night, often all the way until the next day and can continue to do this for several days with minimal napping before I crash.

Then I got to thinking.  I read in a magazine that scientists aren’t exactly sure why we sleep.  They know we need to.  They know we get really tired if we don’t.  But they aren’t completely sure why.  What exactly does sleep do?  What is sleep even?  They’re not 100% sure.

I think that’s pretty nifty.

Anyway, I just wanted to update since I haven’t in a while.

1) The Tumbleweed, a country dance hall for country people.  18+

2) The Strip, a bunch of bars for drinking and many country-themed.  21+

3) That’s it.

I don’t really drink, so going to The Strip is kind of dumb because that’s really the only reason people go there.  The Tumbleweed is for everyone, because it also caters to 18-21 folks.  But what about those of us who aren’t into the country scene?  What are we to do?!

Answer:  Stillwater needs a dance club.  Be it trance, house, trip hop or other, Stillwater needs an exciting electronic dance place for 18+ so that both drinkers and non-drinkers can enjoy the weekend with awesome loud music and dancing.

Am I the only one who feels this way?  I don’t feel like going to a bar and drinking for entertainment, but I don’t mind being somewhere that serves it as long as there’s more entertainment (i.e. music and dancing), and I don’t feel like dancing to country music!

You can do all you want, and people will always be interested in seeing what you’re planning next.

If you’re leading a tribe, a group of people with shared ideas and passions, then the best thing you can do is to show that you mean what you say.  The worst thing you can do is talk a lot and not show any interest in acting.

Results are highly valued; talk is offered at a discount.

Once there, I unloaded my bike and rode the thing up steep trails, betwen trees and around rocky outcroppings.  I made it to the summit to survey my surroundings–a vast, expansive nothingness.  It felt great.

I’ve never been the type to dissect my dreams looking for meaning, but this one made me realize how long it’s been since I’ve been mountain biking.  You see, the last several weeks–maybe even a month or two–have been quite hectic, with different projects, tests and assignments all due at once.  The stress of it has kept me busy and I’ve ignored leisure activities.

Sometimes, though, you have to take a break.  Responsibilities are necessary, and you shouldn’t ignore them.  Every so often, though, you have to know when to break away and say “Enough.  I’m taking a break.”  Go out to a nice restaurant on the weekend, go camping by the lake–with the cell phone off–, relax with some good music and watch a movie, or go mountain biking.

It doesn’t really matter what you do; just know that it’s OK to take a break now and then.  Happy weekend, everyone.

In today’s competitive job market, young people like us must work harder to keep a competitive edge if we have any desire to become actual leaders in our fields.  Taking advantage of resources like these is a key way we can get a leg up.

If you are a journalism, public relations, broadcast or related major, I highly reccommend you register.  Oh yeah; it’s free.

I recently experienced this Deadly Sin today, as I was trying to negotiate with a businesswoman in charge of financial matters for a certain institution.  Basically, I knew I was going to be charged some money but I had completed all the necessary steps before the deadline in order to only be charged the minimum cost.  I then received a billing statement charging me the maximum cost, plus a $20 per item “processing fee.”

I have since e-mailed the businesswoman back and forth, explaining my situation, and I find out that the person I initially dealt with did not complete my transaction as requested, and instead half-completed it, leaving me with maximum cost and fees for the other items.  Apparently, they have a protocol for these situations, but it was never explained to me at the time.

So now, after my e-mails with the person, she has finally sent me a last e-mail citing several times that their “policy is…” and “the rules are…” and that “exceptions cannot be made…” and “it’s the same for everyone…”

Deadly. Sin. Committed.

And something we learned in Hospitality was that once a Deadly Sin is committed, it cannot be revoked.  It’s done.  The client is left feeling cheated, used and tricked.  And they will not want to do business with you again.

The remedy for this “Rule Book Sin” was to instill in your employees a strong sense of the “spirit of the rule” rather than memorizing a specific policy and then executing it relentlessly, blind to common sense.

If an employee of yours messes up and the client was not made aware of this policy ahead of time, then it behooves you to act “in the spirit of the rule” and to make concessions as necessary based on the individual case, if you want to keep their business and your good reputation.

In other words, no two situations are alike, and if you have any interest in becoming a well-respected, well-liked service with strong customer loyalty, you should be strongly interested in the spirit of the law vs. policies, and you must realize that common sense cannot be eliminated from the equation.  After all, this is no monopoly.  Your clients can easily take their business elsewhere–and will.