I have always been taught and been able to see that the best thing someone can do for themselves is have a diverse range of skills and knowledge because that is what people who will employ you are going to look for. This also ties into never being afraid to jump in and do something that you have never done before just because you don’t know how. Constant learning and evolving keeps your toolbox of skills and knowledge diverse, plentiful, and up to date. This especially applies to freelance. If you are a writer who only knows how to write about one topic or industry, then you likely are not going to be able to sustain a freelance lifestyle due to there not being enough demand. Freelance journalist do not have to be experts in every field to be able to write about them, but knowing a little bit about a lot can help you go much further in a freelance career. Freelance is lacks security without being in the middle of a pandemic, but it also has a level of reliability that I had never thought about before reading this article. As a freelancer you do not have to worry about how your employer will handle your job, health insurance, and money in a time like this when so many people are losing their source of income and benefits. Freelancers are in charge of being able to provide their source of income in benefits which can be extremely difficult, but allows a situation where they are able to assess their own needs and map out what needs to be done for them to succeed.
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One of the main things that can be heard over and over again in media and reporting today is talk about facts, fake news, and people, especially the president, criticizing the media for not reporting facts correctly. Because of how polarizing the journalism environment has become it is hard to want to report something as absolute when we are in a world that changes so rapidly with new information becoming available all the time. This change in culture where the media is constantly criticized by people such as the president, celebrities, and other political figures has turned a lot of mistrust towards journalism and made many people constantly question the validity of what they are hearing or reading. Part of the problem with this is that with this toxic culture consumers of media only want to believe what they want to hear or read, and only want to prove what is being reported wrong when it is not something they agree with. With the media constantly being bashed and people saying they can’t trust it it has seemingly become unknown to people that they also need to fact-check information themselves and go deeper than just glancing at an article or barely listening in a way that causes them to get confused and lose trust. With the way the culture of the public and the media has turned it is almost necessary to include disclaimers in stories about how it is still developing and information may update or change based on what is known at the time and what will become available.
This is a very interesting article to me because a lot of what I see from journalism is trying to make everything a competition. Who can break the story first, who can get the best and most controversial information, and who can get the best sources. This can create a system that hurts more than it helps. When everything is a competition it can lead to journalists not producing the best story possible. A rushed story can lead to misinformation being reported such as when it was reported that Kobe Bryants entire family was on the helicopter that crashed when they were not. When organizations work together it can only help make things better, not make them worse. By collaborating on stories journalists can create stories that lead to the public being more informed educated through using a diverse group of writers, photographers, and others who can use their different skill sets and abilities to write more well rounded stories.
As someone who has never worked in a "big kid" job yet, I do not personally understand what if feels like to not have proper representation in the workplace, and how hopeless people can feel sometimes when there is no one to advocate for them. So, from an outsiders point of view I do believe that unions are something needed in every workplace, and especially in newsrooms. Journalist and others who work in the newsroom are responsible for being the ones that help educate and inform the public, and that can't be done if they are not being provided for by their employers. This article is the best example of showing how all it takes is one group to stand up and begin to advocate for themselves, and then others begin to follow. When journalists are being taken care of and are making a livable wage, receiving healthcare, and other benefits not only do they benefit but so does everyone else. When they are not forced to focus on worrying about their finances or their healthcare because it is being advocated for and provided to them, they can focus on producing the best stories and content for the readers which creates a more informed and educated society. No single person or organization who owns a newspaper organization should be able to deny benefits to the journalists that inform our society while they pocket millions.
There are several points within this article that I agree with. The focus and purpose of journalism in America today has taken on a form that is not reliable or sustainable. To me, journalism has taken on a form that emphasizes producing stories that will create the most reaction, anger, outrage, and confusion instead of focusing on what the core of journalism should be; informing, educating, and helping. Instead of sticking to these purposes journalism has shifted into a form of biased media that only focuses on what stories are going to go viral within the public to attract the most attention. The media is constantly feeding the Trump machine and focusing on reporting information about Trump in a way that will get the most heightened reaction. Not to say that Trump has not done a lot of wrong, and still is (constantly), but the media is supposed to be an unbiased source that informs the public of what is being done in a way that is not meant to sway one way or the other. Another point I agree with in this article is when Jeff Jarvis says that the media is liberal. It is not hard to look at headlines and stories from major news organizations and see which way they lean, but stories being read should always try and present only in the facts in a way that does not contain opinion. Right or left, rich or poor, majority or minority, everyone in America should be able to see journalistic work being produced that represents them and that is unbiased and informative.
My first reaction to this web page detailing how to leak information in the best way was that I found it kind of funny that they have a whole page dedicated to this specific purpose. This speaks to how important it is for people to be able to confidentially leak information to the press so that it can be acted upon. Without whistle blowers having the ability to give information in a way that they feel secure in, many stories that need to be brought into the light would remain unknown in the dark. Without resources like this being put out for potential confidential source to discover how they should leak the information they have, they may not ever reveal what they know simply because they do not know the best way to do it. The stories that can be brought to the public knowledge by these sources can often save lives, reveal corruption, and keep public figures in check. Through having multiple different ways for whistle blowers to leak information it helps ensure that every potential source has a multitude of options to look through and decide on one that they can be confident in in order to do the right thing.
This article provided a good overview of the different ways the contact tracing can be used to help combat COVID-19, and of the benefits and downfalls it would create. I think that contact tracing in a time like this is something that is extremely necessary, although it is difficult to think about what an invasion of privacy it is. However, it has been shown to work in other countries with a level of effectiveness that has not been seen in the current methods that are being used in the United States. Although it is easy to see how well these contact tracing methods are working in other countries, and to recognize that it is needed in the U.S. to combat COVID-19 in the most effective way possible, I do not think that we will be able to reach that level hear because of how many people will refuse to have their information used. I believe that if the people of this country have to choose between protecting their privacy and doing something for the good of not only their health, but the others around them, they will choose their privacy.
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