Sunday, January 27, 2008

A Wake Up Call to Our Generation


Today I was looking at the online edition of The New York Times to prepare for a current events quiz in this class when I came across an article describing the ethnic violence happening in Kenya. As I read over the article detailing the brutal and mindless attacks among the people in this country I was saddened I was unaware this was occurring. It really made me think about my generation and the things we see as newsworthy. It also made me think about where I get my news from.

As an aspiring PR professional in the entertainment industry I find my news in the latest gossip magazines and online celebrity news databases. Quiz me on the latest scandal committed by Britney Spears and I will be able to give you a play by play of her downfall. When I came across this article I realized that a large majority of our generation does not really know what is happening in our world.

Throughout my college career every single professor in my communications classes has stressed the importance of reading the newspaper and keeping up with what is going on in the world. Reading a newspaper is not something that is done regularly by the youth in today’s society. With the advancement of technology and the many different outlets that provide news, our generation has not utilized newspapers in the same way as previous generations.

When I do want to find out what is going on in the world I browse the online editions of my local paper and The New York Times. Instead of looking at the articles featured on the front page of the paper, I look at the most popular articles which are normally stories that have catchy headlines and have little relevance to what is going on in our world as a whole.

Although I have yet to think of specific ways to change the type of news our generation sees as newsworthy, I have personally committed myself to finding my news through different media channels throughout this semester. I will continue to read my gossip magazines but I am committed to discovering and exploring new media outlets that will give me a greater knowledge of what is going on in our world. It is vital that we find a way to integrate the type of news that interests our youth because one day our generation will lead this country and our knowledge of the Britney Spears scandal is not going to do us any good.

2 comments:

zen said...

Very interesting Katie. I agree with you 100%. It's pretty scary to actually think about how consumed our generation is with petty gossip! I think that our generation, including myself, should really make an effort to focus on our economy, the enviornment, politics, and other important issues in society.

College Bloggers said...

Amen, Katie. You are, of course, singing my song. This is part of the mission this semester. I'm glad you're off to a good start.
--Prof Flournoy