Ah, Journalism...

This program rocks! I know it may sound like I'm totally talking up the professors, but I'm not kidding, this program is the best thing I ever did as far as school goes--one of the hardest and most demanding things I've ever done, but also the best.

I came in as an English literature major, so I was a bit petrified at meeting the group of 20-something students who would mainly have a background in journalism. What I found, though, was that many people were like me. Everyone here had an impression of what journalism is--myself included--and came here to find their ideas turned upside down.

My own impressions were that journalism had to be hard news. However, I never considered whether a blog or tabloid magazines (which is ironic, considering one of my dream jobs would be to work for Cosmopolitan) could be journalism, or what components went into a piece, in order for it to become journalism. Imagine my surprise when we were given our first assignment: produce a 3-minute video piece of good journalism, accompanied by a 300-word article and a Web page. Possibly the most vague and most terrifying assignment I have ever received, I found that, like many classes or assignments that are extremely difficult, this assignment taught me more than I ever would have gained in a semester-long journalism course at CSU.

Here at SIWJ, journalism is open-ended. It is not concrete, it does not have one definition. Instead, this program allows us to define what journalism means to us. One classmate may find a journalistic story in the artwork at the National Gallery. Another may find a piece on the Metro. This program has shown me that journalism is open to interpretation; it is flux.

Going back to that first assignment, I found that the open-endedness of the assignment was scary, but at the same time liberating. Gone were the constraints most professors give their students and in their place was freedom to be creative.

Perhaps that is the most interesting aspect of what I've learned here. Whether at my job or in class, creativity is necessary. A piece of journalism does not always fit into the template designed for it. At Moment magazine, we interns are expected to contribute creatively on a regular basis, whether throwing out possibilities for the next "Jewish Word" column or researching interesting story ideas on the Supreme Court.

I am still working on my definition of journalism. Maybe it's like I said before--that no one definition of journalism will ever truly encompass journalism in all its forms. For now, I agree with Amos' requirements that journalism should inform and entertain. I feel strongly that a piece of solid journalism should make an impact on an individual's life in one way or another. And whether writing about the stock market (boring!) or about the newest runway fashions, passion for the content is key.