In Memory of Walter Cronkite (1916-2009)

Even though this may be a little late, I find it rather sad that Walter Cronkite, said to be the “most trusted man in America” [1] passed away last week at 7:42pm on Friday July 17th, 2009.  I found out about this after my flight from Atlanta had touched down in Phoneix at 8:30pm mountain time (roughly 10:30pm eastern time).  It seemed rather strange to me, that this monolithic figure in the world of journalism and television broadcasting was suddenly gone, and on the day that the Washington Journalism and Media Conference ended (now wouldn’t you agree thats a little strange?).  Mr. Cronkite was 92-years-old upon passing, which I had not known before this day.  Since I am not one to just repeat information that you can find elsewhere on the internet (or one to just copy and paste a story onto my blog without the author’s permission), here is a link to the Telegraph’s obituary (first published: July 18th, 2009): http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/5857136/Walter-Cronkite-obituary.html

Absence of the News

I have not seen much local news in a few days.  I have decided though, that anything of journalistic nature published within the walls of this establishment will strictly be of local interest (unless other pressing matters appear, such as… I dunno, the expansion of the Federal Government even further or the advent of a zombie apocalypse).

In retrospect

I rather do miss WJMC. Maybe someday I will be able to speak there.

Brief Essay on WJMC for North Central News (local paper)

Attending the 2009 Washington Journalism and Media Conference in Washington, D.C. (hosted by George Mason University in nearby Fairfax, Virginia) was nothing short of incredible.  From the day I arrived at the Mason Fairfax campus (Sunday, July 12^th) until the day I left (Friday, July 17^th) I was immersed into the changing waters of journalism.  While our visits to the Newseum, the Smithsonian, the U.S. Capitol, and lectures from well-known individuals in journalism/media such as Brian Lamb (CEO of C-SPAN) and Chuck Todd (current White House Correspondent for NBC) were informative and interesting, learning about it all was the greatest part of the whole thing.  When I say “learning about it all” I mean to refer to learn/try out new forms of media such as blogs, vlogs (or video blogs), pod casting, and broadcasting.  We also were able to post stories of our daily adventures on our own blogs (created by us on the 12^th) throughout the week (these blogs were then reviewed by the facuilty advisor of the groups we were separated into as course work for the week, along with participation in group activities, in order to see if we deserved the single college credit promised to those who “passed” in the conference). 

            I believe that the single most important question answered during the week was “What is the future of journalism?”  Most all of the speakers/discussion panel members to whom the question was addressed answered that it certainly was a bright future.  This, they said, was due to the advent of the new media/news outlets of blogging, YouTube, social networking sites (including Facebook and Twitter), portable camcorders, and hand-held mobile devices such as the Palm Pilot and iPhone.  This was a very happy revelation to me, because long before I had even heard of the WJMC I had heard of nothing but the fast-approaching “death of journalism.”  People told me and I heard from other sources that this was due to the decrease in popularity of newspapers (mostly ones with national influence, as I later learned during the conference) and an increase in the new media forms I mentioned above.  I am very glad to say that journalism is not dying, but it is only going through a phase of evolution.

            I hope to pursue a journalism or communications degree in college (preferably one that would allow me to further explore different and new media, including everything I wrote of in the above paragraph as well as television and/or radio).  If not that then I would like to pursue International Relations/diplomacy, due to the fact that much of what goes on in journalism (such as understanding people/events, and putting together facts to get information and the truth on a situation) is a key portion of this field.  In the Fall of 2010 (and hopefully for my entire college career) I would like to attend Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey.  This is because of the school’s size (around 5,000 undergraduate students), it is close to New York City, they have exceptional Communications/International Relations programs, as well as an seemingly fantastic cafeteria.

Day 3: George Washington of the Smithsonian

Today we visited the American History/Air and Space Museums of the Smithsonian Institute. While both of these were very wonderful places, the one thing that caught my attention the most was a statue of George Washington. The statue depicts Washington sitting on a throne, draped in a Roman style tunic, with his right arm and index finger pointing to the sky. Washington wears that ever present frown that is found in almost all other depictions of the man, but this one is a seemly angered frown. This depiction was different in the fact that he was not fully clothed (wearing a Greek style tunic), sitting on a throne, sheathed sword in left hand, while his right hand pointed to the sky. The statue was designed by Horatio Greenough in 1840 to be placed in the “…U.S. Capitol Rotunda” [1]. The statue was designed in a similar way to a statue known as “…Zeus Olympios which was one of the Seven Wonders of the World” [1]. After being relocated numerous times, the statue was moved to the Smithsonian Institute in 1908 where it resides today [1] (in the National Museum of American History). This is most certainly the only depiction of Washington in a godlike form, which most likely came from the fact that he was seen as a god to many of the American people after the Revolution and later. Very interesting nonetheless.

1) “George Washington (statue).” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.

WJMC Interview (Monday, July 13th, 2009)

Day 2: The Location of the Newseum

Upon driving past the Newseum ( & Pennsylvania Ave.) while on the way to New Jersey from Fairfax, VA (on Wednesday July 8^th, 2009… a week prior to the WJMC), the first thing I noticed

 was the massive wall of stone on which the words of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution were engraved.  This was all rather interesting to me because of the Newseum’s distance from the U.S. Capitol building.  It is in this very building that the Legislative Branch of our blank year-old government takes on the task of passing laws to benefit the American people.  The giant stone tablet seemed to stand as a reminder to this branch of government and the other two (Executive and Judicial) branches, that this important Amendment should not be trampled upon.  I also believed that that was why the building (to remind the American public of the fact that a free press, as well as the other freedoms included in the Amendment, allows our country to flourish with ideas and outlook).  On Monday July 13^th, when I visited the interior of the

 Newseum I decided to find out if my speculation on this matter was correct.  I was able to perform a brief interview with a Newseum staff member named Marvin Kranz.  The two questions that I asked Mr. Kranz was simple: “Why is the Newseum located so close to the Capitol building?” and “Why is the stone tablet featuring the First Amendment displayed on the outside of the building?”  Mr. Kranz told me the building was so close to the Capitol because of the convienience of the location.  He explained that the lot on which the Newseum is located on Penn. Ave. had been in disrepair for quite some time, and that the Newseum had been built in order to draw more people to this specific area of D.C. (they also had an apartment complex attached to the building, in order that people could live in the area).  Even though the Newseum (according to Mr. Kranz) is so close to the Capitol due to chance, he said that the reason for the First Amendment being there for all to see was simple: because people needed to know about this freedom (there was also an exhibit on the First Amendment on the 4^th floor, which was quite

informative to the history of free speech, religion, press, and assembly) and that it should not be taken away.  So in short, my speculation was right I suppose…