Harsh Future

Before college, I never really read too many newspapers, other than The Times Herald Record, which is the local paper from home (Sullivan County), mostly because I didn't always have internet access, and I really never had the urge to.

However, since becoming a journalism major at SUNY Albany, I am much more interested in the news, and papers like The New York Times and U.S.A. Today, and magazines like Newsweek, are now at the top of my list whenever I want to find information out. I even subscribe to the New York Times online, which is somewhat of a rip off to the company, since I read for free. I get daily emails and also news alerts whenever something big happens (like for instance, today, which read:

"After a half-day of animated debate, the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday rejected efforts by liberal Democrats to add a government-run health insurance plan to major health care legislation, dealing the first official setback to an idea that many Democrats, including President Obama, say they support."

That makes me sad, especially after the event I attended that I spoke about in my last post. People were just so passionate about that issue, and to see it fall through is somewhat depressing.

But I didn't write to talk about that, even though it's obviously something big, and something I care about, because to be honest, real reporters are going to be covering that much more extensively than I am going to be.

I guess I'm really more interested in the fact that I get the New York Times for free each day. At first, maybe it doesn't seem like something interesting, compared to public option being rejected, but to someone like me, who plans on (hopefully) graduating in the spring, it affects me in a really big way.

Newspapers are dying. It's a simple truth that every professor here agrees on. Some of the older ones say journalism itself is dying, but the other ones say that it will never die. The style is transforming, and the way news is gathered and distributed is changing.

So I get The New York Times for free, which means people aren't getting paid. No salary for the writers, for the editors, for the deliverymen, for the ink, for the paper. Only the people who pay for that actually help it, and if someone who has internet gets the choice to choose free news or the actual paper delivered to their doorstep for $7.40 a week, I'm pretty sure they'd choose free.

This isn't new information by any means, but it is the reality, and it is scary. The future of my career field has no security whatsoever at this point, until something is done. There was a really good article written by the editor of The San Jose Mercury News that I read a couple of weeks ago about it, but of course, now I have to pay for it. I wish I could show it to you. (Maybe if my sister reads this, she can put a link up or something. She is the one who showed it to me after all.)

It's a terrifying reality that's hitting me in the face everyday, making me wonder what I'm doing even attempting traveling down this road. Hopefully, something good will happen, and make my worrying go away, but if it doesn't, who knows what will happen?

I know I've been really lazy with my writing in this blog, and as always, I apologize profusely. I never mean to wait this long between posts, because I love writing in it, but with six classes, balancing priorities is becoming quite a task. Just don't give up on me yet. I'm not going anywhere.

Scott Murphy

For one of my journalism classes, I was required to attend a public event, one which, at first, I didn't think I'd be able to find. I am usually horribly bad at deadlines (I always get things done, but I wait a while before I start) but I knew that if I didn't find something by this Thursday, when the assignment is due, it would be incredibly hard to stay ahead, or rather, even stay afloat, in my class.

I had searched and searched thoroughly through the Times Union newspaper and various Albany events sites, coming up with nothing more than art events downtown and sports games. Finally, I emailed my professor, hoping he could help me out, which he did, not directly of course. But he had said to try labor day events, and considering everyone has off today, I figured I'd find some cute little memorial event I could go to. However, that isn't exactly what I found. Scott Murphy is the local Congressman that represents the 20th district in New York, who happened to schedule a meet and greet at the Price Chopper in Clifton Park. At first I had been mildly excited about it. I had never met a Congressman before, and it would give me an opportunity to see firsthand what a politician promised.

That was before I found several blogs about how many people were against what he promised (especially regarding healthcare). There were so many people who wrote about how they were planning to protest. Immediately, I realized this public event I was supposed to cover was going to be completely different than I had first imagined.

Media coverage was also going to be there, which slightly intimidated me, I have to be honest, but it's something I'm going to have to deal with soon considering this is the field I really am interested in following. I needed to do research, and fast, because if I had no idea what was going on, there was no way I could construct enough questions to ask.

I did, and this morning I arrived fully prepared to do what I had to. That is, until I saw the people with the signs. It's not like I didn't expect the signs. After all, what's a protest without the signs? (By the way, they weren't all protesting the cause. Some of the signs were for support) Then a man started yelling about how we need public option, which I think is a good idea honestly. After his rant, the other side decided to contribute also. I had never been more afraid to approach someone than at this moment. What if he started asking me about what I believed? I can't really tell him how I feel, though, if I want an interview, so would he be willing to say anything?

Eventually Scott Murphy walked up, shaking hands with his constituents. As loud as some people screamed, it was evident how many people were there to hear what he had to say. Some people had very genuine concerns, especially the older people who were starting to believe the rumors about death panels (which Murphy adamantly denied), or those who wanted to know if they'd lose health insurance all together. There were snickers amongst those present whenever someone of the opposite party asked him a question, which made me feel tense at times. Over all though, it was exciting to be part of such a debate. I became so much more interested in politics during the morning, especially about healthcare. I think if a Congressman of yours ever comes to speak at a town near you, you should definitely go and listen, because it is after all, our future that will be changed.

The above picture was taken from Google of Congressman Murphy. Stupid me forgot to bring a camera.