Posted by: Alyssa Cashman on: April 9, 2010
The Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia recently announced their newest dual-degree program: Journalism and Computer Science. According to the press release, the program’s aim is to:
”provide graduate students with both the editorial and technological skills to produce new applications and online tools that could help redefine journalism in a fast-changing digital media environment.”
Personally, I think dual-degree programs are essential in journalism; it lets journalists become an expert on something other than writing, which can make you appealing to employers looking for someone with a specific interest. As journalists, our job is to know a little about everything – dual degree programs can help you be more successful in that respect. Joint journalism and business degrees are becoming more useful today also, as the industry scrambles to find a new business model for more traditional forms of media.
NYU offers similar dual degree programs – although their offerings are more specific with an emphasis on global studies and journalism. According to their website, the program is designed to prepare students ”to research, report, and write from abroad or domestically on themes of international importance — but always with a wide but sophisticated readership in mind.” As the world virtually shrinks, global journalists should be in high demand.
Several journalism schools – like KU – allow students to achieve a law degree and Masters in journalism. All these programs offering dual degrees are among the top journalism schools in the nation. A coincidence? I think not.
Posted by: Alyssa Cashman on: April 7, 2010
The battle between PR and journalism goes back decades. Reporters insist that public relations isn’t “real” journalism, while public relations workers constantly fight to be considered legitimate professionals. Although both professions serve different purposes, in the end, the skill sets for both careers seem quite similar.
In a recent interview with an international public relations firm, I figured my interviewers would be strongly in favor of the recent move to integrate strategic communications and social media education into journalism studies. However, they emphasized the importance of one very basic skill: writing. In the end, a solid writing background is vital to both of these professions. The medium is virtually the same, but the messages should often differ.
I say “should” because traditional journalism is becoming more of a public relations mouthpiece than ever before. Critical thinking and investigative journalism has fallen by the wayside in favor of regurgitating press releases. That’s not reporters’ jobs; they are supposed to dig into the facts behind a press release and ensure its legitimacy.
Many refer to public relations as the art of “spin.” But that is exactly what journalism is! It’s molding a message and delivering it to your readers with a certain perspective. In traditional journalism, the spin comes from the reporter deciding what is or isn’t newsworthy.
As I consider a career in public relations, I’d like to think that I will still be respected for my talents and skills, even if some believe I’ve gone over to the “dark side.” People underestimate the amount of intellect, research, and writing finesse that goes into PR. Plus, without PR, reporters would have to work even harder – something I sometimes doubt they are willing to do considering the quality of content produced in many local newspapers today. So while I think public relations and traditional journalism are different, I still think they require the same sets of skills and the same amount of integrity and intellect.
Posted by: Alyssa Cashman on: April 4, 2010
While I was reading a recent article on unpaid internships, I saw the statistic that came out of a 2008 National Association of Colleges and Employers: nearly 83 percent of recent graduates had held at least one internship, compared to just 9 percent in 1992. That’s a dramatic increase! So if the majority of recent graduates have some form of job experience, what makes me stand out?
I was always told gaining “work experience” in college would be vital to my job search once I graduated. Well, I’ve held three internships, plus an “official” job at The Daily Iowan during the past three years. So where are the employers? Why aren’t they lining up? I’ve landed a couple interviews, both for temporary jobs that I’m really excited about, but so far, no offers. In fact, I’d say about 80 percent of the applications I’ve sent out haven’t even garnered a response. I do the obligatory follow-up call. I have the grades. I have the EXPERIENCE. But, clearly, these attributes aren’t going to cut in a job market where the vast majory of graduates have the exact same resume.
So what’s the key to landing the job? I’ve heard myriad theories. I often hear “it’s all about who you know, not what you know.” I’ve also heard that social media skills or web 2.0 experience will help to set someone apart. Well I’d say I’m improving in both those areas, to no avail. Job hunting is exhausting, frustrating, and scary. As of right now, I’m 6 weeks from graduating, with no job, and no idea of what my future will hold. My dad says, “just keep pounding the pavement.” Well, my feet hurt from the 3-inch heels, my eyes burn from staring at a computer screen all day, and my head aches from, well, everything! But I will keep “pounding the pavement,” and hope for a light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve always prided myself on my work ethic, and this is the time when I’ll really have to – in the words of Tim Gunn – make it work.
P.S. Any advice or tips are welcome!
Posted by: Alyssa Cashman on: April 1, 2010
Word on the street is that the University of Iowa J-school will be implementing a new philanthropy and fundraising certificate come 2011. Although I can’t say this has been confirmed, it sounded like a pretty sure thing. Personally, I wish this certificate had been around when I came to the UI, because I’m definitely leaning toward working in the philanthropy field. But classes in such nonprofit work are scattered among the different colleges and majors at the UI, making it difficult to form a cohesive plan of study.
Other schools like UCLA, NYU, and UNO offer certificates in fundraising, although these certificates aren’t neccessarily administrated by their J-schools. By my brief survey of some of the top J-schools in the nation, it didn’t look like they offered much in the way of philanthropy or fundraising classes. So is this step by the UI good or bad?
Obviously, the j-school has to step up its game; I’ve been over this in past entries. This certificate will appeal to a broader student base. But is the school abandoning old school, shoe-leather reporting? Personally, I think change is a good thing. Old-school journalism is a thing of the past, what with newspapers floundering in a major way. Plus, investigative reporting is not everybody’s cup of tea. For most of my career at the UI, my peers and many professors seem to scoff at a field like public relations; you’d think I was selling my soul to the devil by forsaking newspaper reporting for the dark side of communications and PR.
In short, I think change is a good thing. Not to mention, as more nonprofit journalism centers continue to pop up, those old school journalists are going to be wishing they had the fundraising skills to bring in the big bucks to fund their endeavors.
Thoughts?
Posted by: Alyssa Cashman on: March 3, 2010
Journalists are part of what is perhaps the most underappreciated profession in the nation. Perhaps it is our own doing – we too often simply regurgitate the information given to us by the elites without really questioning it. Every journalist has been guilty of it at one time or another, and any reporter who tells you otherwise is lying. However, journalism is the very foundation of democracy and this underappreciation is leading to its demise, which very well may lead to democracy’s demise in the United States.
But I digress. Perhaps this underappreciation is the reason so many reporters, editors, and journalism professors seem to hold themselves in such high esteem. If nobody else will, their own ego will have to suffice I suppose. This odd separation of journalists from “everybody else” begs the question: are we really serving the people, or our just our own interests? And how can we break the cycle?
As I progress through my classes at the University of Iowa, I hear time and time again that the news industry is not doing their job. But who is sending these journalists out into the world? Journalism schools! I will admit, I find that many of my professors beg us to be critical, to dig past the press releases and bureaucratic jargon. But still the cycle never breaks. It is a frustration I share with my professors and wonder if it is simply a generational gap.
When I began in journalism at the UI, I was beyond intimidated by the older students in my classes. At the same time, it made me work harder, it made me push to be better than the person next to me. And while I’m not much older than the freshmen who now occupy that same spot, I see such a huge gap in the work ethic I held so dear, as did my peers. I don’t see quite the same desire to push the envelope to ask the questions nobody else is bothering to. I’m not entirely sure work ethic is something that can be taught at this point in the game. It’s a learned behavior, something ingrained in you as an elementary student that slowly grows stronger as you age.
So who is to blame? The students themselves? K-12 education? Higher education? Or is it my fault, as an editor, for not pushing them harder? Do people even respond to anger and demands? I have my conjectures, but prefer to keep them to myself (at least for now). Regardless, the future of journalism seems bleak indeed if some of the people I see in the journalism world are to be its future. The underappreciation will continue, journalists will continue to regress into their newsroom cubicles, and democracy may very well continue to crumble.
Posted by: Alyssa Cashman on: November 23, 2009
So yesterday was probably the first day I started to realize how fast I’m hurtling toward graduation and the ever-menacing “real world.” It was my last Hawkeye football game as a student. I don’t know that future games will ever be the same. The rest of Kinnick, while enthusiastic, just doesn’t match up to the student section. I mean, nobody gets into the Burritto Lift like the students, and “adults” don’t really appreciate the random dude who starts stripping when “Fire Burning” comes over the loudspeakers at halftime. I think what got me the most was after the game, when the players had carried Floyd to the locker room, and the highlight reel from the historic season played on the big screen. Remembering all those moments, the times of pure and unadulterated excitment – like when we made a touchdown with 2 seconds to go at MSU when I was screaming myself hoarse by myself in my living room, or when we blocked not 1, but 2 field goal attempts to beat UNI – you just can’t match that. And just looking out across the student section, still full of students gazing up, I couldn’t help but think this is one of those crazy moments you’ll always remember. And of course, the music they chose to play with it is “Don’t Stop Believin’” basically the theme song to my freshman year.. or college career in general. And standing there with Abby, who I’ve gone to nearly every football game with since we were freshmen, it was rough. I can’t imagine not living in the same town as my friends who have made my college experience incredible. We will all go our separate ways… and then what? I see my parents – they rarely talk to their college buddies or high school friends. I just can’t imagine that. I see my friends basically everyday, and if I don’t , I talk to them on a daily basis. How is it possible, that just 6 months from now, it will be all over? I feel like I was just a freshmen yesterday, sitting in my dorm room in Daum, after my parents had left thinking, “now what?”
As cliche as it may sound, all good things must come to an end. But I have a feeling that there’s a lot more good stuff to come. The daunting aspect is thinking about what I have to leave behind to get to that stuff. And I may be jumping the gun, but I just want to thank all my incredible friends who have gotten me to this point. To my UI friends, you have all helped me in one way or another become the person I am today. Without you, I would not be as comfortable in my own skin as I am. I love knowing that all of you will do amazing things, and I hope we can still share those little victories together, no matter where we are in the world. To my closest friends (you know who you are), it’s amazing how immediately we became like family. You’ve all helped me through some of my hardest moments in life, from daunting piles of homework, to heartbreak, to job applications, to the really serious stuff that gets to all of us at some point. And of course, you were all there to celebrate the good times too – and those will be the times I remember the most! To my “Greek” friends – thank God it was you I studied abroad with, or I would’ve flown home immediately! My life would not be complete without you all. To my high school friends (you know who you are) I can’t believe I still look forward to Thanksgiving Eve and Christmas Eve Eve. So many people I know I have lost touch with their high school friends, but I know my girls will be with me for life! And of course, to my family – I wouldn’t have been able to meet these amazing people and do these incredible things without you.
So, I’ll stop being sappy. The next 6 months will go by faster than imaginable. Go Hawks!
Posted by: Alyssa Cashman on: September 4, 2009
The first week of my senior year has come and gone. Actually, the second week has too. How did that happen? So far, the year has been quite unpredictable. A couple blasts from the past, a bee sting, noisy neighbors, and senioritis seem to about sum it up thus far. It’s great to be back in Iowa City in some ways. The weather has been cool enough that I’m not a disgusting mess at the end of the day and the leaves on campus are already starting to change. I’m not sure if I’m ready for fall, but with the first football game on Saturday, I suppose it’s right around the corner. This weekend is really going to kick off my school year. From this point on, I don’t have a free weekend until the end of October. Even then, I work every Sunday. But that’s the way I prefer it. I thrive off of being overly busy. Some days, I want to pull my hair out from the stress, but I really wouldn’t have it any other way.
I thought it was a sweat bee!
So, the bee sting. Yeah. I got stung by a bee on campus right before class. I tried to tough it out, and headed toward class, but soon my legs was a balloon and every step felt like I was being stung again. So I gimped my way home to my loving roomie, Olivia, who determined that I was not, in fact, dying. But the pain didn’t go away for about 5 hours and the swelling never really went away. And now the itching…. it’s almost worse than the pain. Anyway, I will hopefully be getting a cortisone shot in the morning to get rid of the thing once and for all. Who gets stung by a bee? Honestly….
Noisy Neighbors
Every Thursday through Saturday night, I know I can depend on the tools across the alley from my window to wake me up in the wee hours of the morning. Now, I’m a tolerant person. Loudness up until about 3 a.m. is somewhat acceptable. Even then, do they really have to stand out on their porch? But when you wake me at 6:30 a.m. with your loud conversation (generously peppered with their favorite phrases “yo” and “bro”) I must draw the line. I’ve had at least one yelling match with them thus far. But tonight really took the cake. At about 3:30 a.m., a homeless man apparently finds the tools out on their balcony – no doubt from their obnoxious conversation. Standing on the pavement below, he knows an opportunity when he sees one. He gets the guys to throw him down some cans. Ok, fine. Being good Samaritans or whatever. But then, the guys decide to make a deal with the hobo. The vagrant is now going to be standing below their balcony at 3:30 a.m. every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning, bellowing up to these d-bags so they’ll throw him down some more cans because “they go through, like, 100 cans a night, bro.” It’s all so amusing.
Senioritis
Going to class is painful for me this year (beyond being stung by bees). It’s so hard for me to sit in class and pay attention for long periods of time. It’s been over a year since I’ve been a real student, and I haven’t really missed it. I missed the social aspects, but definitely not the hours of homework and classes. All I want to do is get in, get out with an A or at the very least a B, and move on. Don’t get me wrong, I love college. I’m scared to death of graduating and entering the real world. But senioritis is definitely kicking in.
Things have definitely been tough to get used to. After a semester of constant change and excitement and seeing the world, Iowa City has lost some of its glitter. It’s kind of knocked the wind out of my sales. I feel old – all the skinny little freshmen girl dressed up to go out on the town every night and be hit on by guys my age… it just doesn’t seem right. Did I really look that young? Was I really that skinny? Was I that obnoxious? Iowa City is definitely a different place when you’re a senior instead of a freshman.
I’m currently working as a marketing assistant at the UI Press. So far, I’ve enjoyed it. I always keep busy, and the staff is all helpful and nice. I’m learning a lot about the inner workings of a publishing house. It’s amazing how much I have to keep up with! On Monday, I will also be starting as a metro editor at the Daily Iowan. I’m pretty excited to start. The time commitment will be tough, but I love editing and I’ve been wanting to do so since I started at the DI. I really enjoy helping people get better at something – to see the improvement is a very rewarding experience. Plus, getting to boss people around is always fun, too!
So, I suppose this blog is going to be more about my final year at Iowa. I might discuss what I’m learning in class (existentialism, anybody?) or the football season, or whatever. I’ll try to keep it interesting.
P.S. went to see Lupe Fiasco tonight (for free!) It was a blast. My first hip hop/rap concert. I think he’s one of the few rappers I could stand to listen to – his music has so many different musical influences. Abby and I got hit on by approximately 2 1/2 freshman boys. We may be seniors, but we still got it! But seriously, these guys looked like they were 12….
Posted by: Alyssa Cashman on: July 12, 2009
It’s been over a month since I arrive home in the States. Basically, nothing has changed. A few people are gone, I don’t feel as close with some of my friends (although I feel closer with others), but for the most part it’s the same old drama, the same old Iowa. I’m happy to be back, don’t get me wrong. But I miss the experience of Greece – of always being faced with the unexpected.
I thought coming home would be a breeze. I was tired of the food, the people, the dirtiness of Thessaloniki. I was ready to be with my friends, ready to catch up on my TV shows, ready to be back to a sense of normalcy. And I have to say, Lost and Grey’s Anatomy exceeded my expectation. But, I realized that my normal before I left is not my normal anymore. I don’t know if people think I’ve changed, but I feel like I have – especially in my dealings with people. To be honest, I’ve been rather antisocial. I rarely answer my phone, I don’t care to go out that much. It’s getting better, but for a while there, I just wanted to be left alone. I wanted my friends from Greece, I wanted the beach, I wanted the stress-free existence. Basically, the theme of the month for June (both in Greece and US) is the grass is greener on the other side. I don’t know quite yet which side I want to be solidly on. I guess that’s what the next couple years in my life are for – to figure that out.
I do love to travel. I love to see different things, to take pictures, to meet new people, to learn new languages. And let’s face it, in Iowa you don’t get a whole lot of that. But also hate change and love my friends at home. I felt happier there. My mom keeps saying, go live your life – enjoy your freedom. But I don’t have the freedom right now. From 7:30 to 4:30 I work, then I have to decide whether or not I hate the flab on my stomach enough to go run, then I study until I go to bed at 10. Where’s the freedom or enjoyment in that? I mean, I like my internship – I’m learning a lot about what I want to do. But I can tell that corporate America isn’t for me.
When I told my dad I was thinking of going to South Africa for winter break, he demanded to know why I would waste my money. To me, it’s not a waste of money. I feel like I have to take advantage of the liberty I do have now. Once I have a career, I won’t be able to jet off for a month to see the world. I told him I love to travel. “Well we all love to travel.” For me, it’s different though. It’s not about sight seeing – it’s about the feeling I would get sitting outside the Eiffel Tower, or the sensation of seeing Vatican City for the first time.
I understand that only a very lucky select few get to travel on a regular basis. I understand that I need to figure out what makes me happy here at home. I think I’m much closer to understanding that than I was before I left. Although I haven’t fully discovered what makes me happy, I do know that I can be happy on my own. I’m a stronger and smarter person and I won’t be taken advantage of anymore.
Things were definitely hard to adjust to at first, but now I’m finally settling into a routine. I went to Okoboji with Casey, Abby and JJ. We had an excellent time, despite the depressing weather. It was a typical Casey, Abby, and Alyssa weekend – each of always manages do one of three things: toss our cookies, cry, or pass out. I conquered two of three. I’ll just say it wasn’t tossing my cookies. I also visited Abby in Des Moines and went to the bars there for the first time. Oddly enough, I ran into a lot of people I knew. It was nice to be back in a social environment where everybody spoke English and I actually stood the chance of randomly running into someone I knew. Grant and I enjoyed making fun of the creepers dancing by themselves on the dance floor trying to get ya from behind. One guy came up to me and slurred, “I’ve been looking for you all night.” I calmly responded, “I think you’re looking for somebody else.” He didn’t like that too much.
I was just in Iowa City to celebrate Morgan’s 21st. It was a really fun night – when Jessica and Morgan and I get together, it’s always bound to be an adventure. We met some cool people, got cheap drinks courtesy of Olivia (love you!) and basically just celebrated her 21st the way it’s always supposed to be!
I started my internship at Rockwell Collins. I really enjoy the atmosphere there – everybody’s very friendly and laid-back, and I feel like I could go to anyone for help. The most challenging part of the job is understanding all the engineering jargon. I’m not sure if I’m quite cut out for the corporate world. I need a happy medium between this and newspapers.
That’s about the story of my life so far in the States. Of course, I’m leaving some things out, but they’re not important anyway. I can’t wait to see Jacqui and Jill again, and I can’t wait to travel again. I guess for now, I’ll just have to make the best of what I’ve got and regain the positive outlook I had before.
