So you want to be a journalist

More than a decade now into the 21st century and technology rules our lives. Could any of us live without our mobile phones? How about our computers? Heck, what about something that’s been around even longer, our microwave?

These tools are now ingrained into our everyday lives, and are a part of our daily routine. So now I turn to something that’s been around for more than 500 years and has stood the test of time, but may finally be teetering on the brink of extinction: newspapers.

Call me old fashioned, but I’m one who still likes to go out to my driveway every morning and pick up my newspaper and read it with breakfast. I’m part of a dying breed. Sure, I can read it online free of charge, but there’s something about having an actual newspaper in front of me, flipping through the pages, that provides some sort of comfort.

This coming from someone communicating to you through a blog. Hey, I know where my bread is buttered.

Anyhow, I know there are many high school and college students that have dreams of earning a journalism degree. Although there are several different fields within the industry they could enter, there are some that still want to be a newspaper reporter. I can tell you now, that the hours stink and the pay stinks, but there was still that feeling of prestige and pride every time I saw my name in print.

Because of the rise of the internet and the world of blogging, the newspaper industry has suffered immensely, and it’s unfortunate. News isn’t covered as thoroughly as it once was. Ad revenue is down. Readership has fallen. People are getting their news elsewhere, and it’s becoming more specialized. If I want just sports news, I can subscribe to a sports site that will send me nothing but sports news. If I want it to just be baseball news, then it will be baseball, and if I want to be on a specific baseball team, well, you get the idea.

So what should these students who want to become the next great writer/reporter do? Don’t give up on your dream. Take some advice that I received some time ago…start a blog, and write about what you feel you are an expert on. Find your passion and expound on it.

Keep a journal. This is not a diary. Don’t write a detailed description of your days’ activities, unless it was something so interesting you don’t ever want to forget it. A journal can be pretty much anything. You can write a short story, whatever you are thinking at that moment, an idea you might have. The point is to always keep writing because it will spawn new ideas, keep your writing fresh, but most importantly, make you a better and more experienced writer.

Another idea is find a topic you are interested in, research it and write a story about it. You never know, there might be someone out there that’s interested in what you have to say about it. Don’t be afraid to shop it around to editors. Blogging and writing articles on your own, quickly builds a portfolio. Also, check around to various publications to see if they will allow you to freelance for them. It’s a great way to get your foot in the door, gain experience and again, add to your portfolio.

Hopefully, these will be useful tips and ideas to get the young journalist started on their journey to being the next great reporter. Like so many people who have worked in newspapers, I don’t want to see the industry die, but I’m afraid it will slowly fade away as this new-fangled internet continues its stranglehold on our lives.

It’s taken me some time, but I’m moving toward the technology. I have to because like so many other things in this world, it will pass me by if I don’t.

Words: A Language All Their Own

Does it bug you when you hear some pronounce a word incorrectly? Or even worse use a word that isn’t even a word at all? I have tried to compile a list of words and phrases that I have heard throughout my life that make me want to run head first into a jagged rock wall every time I hear them spoken. Now, I realize I’m probably just scraping the tip of the iceberg here, and I’m pretty sure, I’ve been guilty of using a few of these myself, but over time, I have made a conscious (not conscience) effort to correct my languid language ways.

Words that aren’t even words

Irregardless vs. Regardless
It never fails. People use IRREGARDLESS all the time when the correct word is REGARDLESS. I’m not sure where this came from, but some say it’s a combination of the words IRRESPECTIVE and REGARDLESS.

Acrossed vs. Across
Unfortunately, my mother is guilty of this one. She’ll say something like, “He walked ACROSSED the street,” and I cringe every time I hear it. Yes, he CROSSED the street, but he did it by walking ACROSS it. I once heard a baseball announcer on the radio say, “He throws the ball ACROSSED the diamond.” I almost fell out of my chair.

Theirselves vs. Themselves
There is no such word as THEIRSELVES, and you certainly can’t spell it THEIRSELFS; it’s THEMSELVES. I heard a former professional football coach always use this word and HISSELF in his weekly press conferences. Couldn’t their PR person work with him a little bit to make him look a bit smarter?

Hisself vs. Himself
See above. Again, HISSELF isn’t a word, and the correct usage is HIMSELF.

Alot vs. A lot
I see this one a lot. Many people believe ALOT is a word, and guess what? It isn’t. There is the word allot, which means to divide or distribute by share or portion. Next time, just put a space between the A and LOT.

Ain’t vs. Isn’t
AIN’T is the alleged contraction of AM NOT; however the correct grammatical contraction is ISN’T. There has been a lot (not ALOT) of debate about its origin and its usage over the generations. While its use is still accepted today, it’s still widely accepted as incorrect. During the nineteenth century, AIN’T fell under attack, and its use was condemned as a vulgarism — a part of speech used by the lower classes. Say it AIN’T so, Joe!

Pronunciate vs. Pronunciation
When speaking correctly and clearly, we want to annunciate our words, and we do that by PRONUNCIATION. People have been guilty of using the word pronunciate, a combination of annunciate and PRONUNCIATION.

Heighth vs. Height
When measuring how tall something is, we are measuring its HEIGHT. Again, many people will say HEIGHTH. It’s a common mistake they make because they are so used to saying length and width.

Supposedly vs. Supposively and Supposably
This one is easy to correct. If you say to yourself, “I’m supposed to go to the store,” then by adding an LY to the word SUPPOSED, you’ll never fail in saying this word. But there are still people out there that say SUPPOSIVELY and SUPPOSABLY for some reason.

False phrases

Center around vs. Center on
I see this quite a bit, especially in sports writing. To me both seem physically impossible to do; however, the correct phrase is CENTER ON. You can’t CENTER AROUND something.

One way or the nother
I don’t hear this one all that often, but there are people that have said it, and it’s grinding to hear since NOTHER isn’t a word. The more commonly used un-phrase, if you will, is the next one.

A whole nother
All right, I’m guilty of this one, so it makes me more tolerant when I hear others say it. But I am now much more aware when I catch myself beginning to say something like, “We have a WHOLE NOTHER dozen Easter eggs to color.” The correct phrase should be “We have ANOTHER dozen Easter eggs to color.”

Hot water heater vs. Water heater
I just threw this one in for fun. There really is no such thing as a HOT WATER HEATER, but people say it all the time, especially the ones that sell them. You can’t really heat up hot water now can you?

I could care less vs. I couldn’t care less
If you say, “I COULD CARE LESS” about something, doesn’t that really mean you care a lot about it? What you want to say is, “I COULDN’T CARE LESS.” It means you don’t care and you couldn’t care any less than you already do…or don’t.

Misused words

Their, There and They’re
THEIR is a pronoun and is a form of the possessive case of THEY.
That is THEIR house.

THERE is an adverb meaning in or at that place.
The house is over THERE.

THEY’RE is a contraction for the words THEY ARE.
THEY’RE coming to our house.

Your and You’re
YOUR is a pronoun and is a form of the possessive case of YOU.
Is that YOUR pen?

YOU’RE is a contraction for the words YOU ARE.
YOU’RE using my pen.

Its and It’s
ITS is a pronoun and is the possessive form of IT.
The clock was running slow because ITS batteries were old.

IT’S is the contraction for the words IT IS.
IT’S getting late.