This was supposed to be a news story about how Dr. Neville Pinto, acting president of the University of Louisville, was named the 30th president of the University of Cincinnati on Saturday.
Instead, I spent Saturday morning dealing with my boyfriend’s asthma attack. He woke me up at 6:30, asking me if I could take him to work because he was “dying.” We took a detour to Kroger where we sat in the parking lot for 40 minutes, waiting for the pharmacy to open, so he could get his inhaler refilled. At 7:50, he informed me that he was feeling better; to take him to work; he’ll get the inhaler later.
Logically, I should have made him get the inhaler then, but I was too focused on getting rid of him, so I could get to UC.
At 8:28, he texted me to come get him because he was “still dying.” I asked where I’d be taking him. To Kroger and then back to work.
*head desk*
By the time I got home again, I crashed on the couch.
Had this been an actual news story, there would have been quotes from Pinto’s speech and from some attendees, screen shots of President Ono’s tweets approving of UC’s choice, and photos of the event. I hope I would’ve gotten pushy enough to try to get to Pinto for non-PR quotes, but I still haven't mastered being a pushy journalist.
I want to fast-forward my life to where I’ve graduated, and can go out into the real world, and be a reporter, and not have to worry about anything else. Not have to sit in classes where guest speakers come in and tease me about all the neat things I could do with my journalism degree — we were literally told by two guest speakers that we should be establishing a freelance career now while in college… okay, tell us how to fit that into our schedules — but instead I’m stuck reading pages and pages of textbooks or PDFs, and writing stories with unrealistic deadlines. Yes, developing and churning out a 700 to 800 word story with a minimum of three sources in a week or so is doable out in the real world, but not so much in college land. (I know this for a fact; I used to work at an actual newspaper.)
It’s things like UC’s Pinto choice that makes me antsy I’m still stuck in college. I was on Twitter Friday night, and read the statement by UC’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors regarding the possible selection of former Procter and Gamble CEO and current Secretary of Veteran Affairs Bob McDonald. (The guy has no academic experience. Picking him would have been like UC picking some golf coach to replace Tommy Tuberville.) One click on #UC led me to a tweet announcing “@WCPO has learned @uofcincy trustees will tap #NevillePinto from @uofl to be #UC’s new prez, next at five.” The story was later fleshed out where three sources confirmed that Pinto would be UC’s next president. By then, I was screaming at my phone, “Why do I have to still be in college? I want to have unnamed sources, too!”
Hell, I’d be happy just to have the time to write a decent story for The News Record.
Ah, yes, The News Record. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still ecstatic that I’m online editor there, but I’m still having difficulty adjusting to what The News Record once was to what The News Record now is. Before, I often wondered if we were falling victim to how journalism is changing, i.e., print circulation dropping, more people reading news online, writing for online is different than writing for print, etc. It has more to do with time. We had wonderful editors quit this semester due to needing to focus on their classes. That’s understandable. It’s very easy to get caught up into the rush of working in a newsroom, be it at college or out in the real world. I had to temporarily give up contributing to the weekly Brewcats column — something I loved doing — because of the demands of the two reporting classes I was taking and trying to balance everything between working two jobs. Our arts and entertainment podcast ceased production due to… you guessed it… time.
My main responsibility as online editor is to oversee The News Record’s website redesign. This should’ve started in November prior to winter break. Instead, I’m working on the on-boarding process over winter break, thanks to November being slammed with fifty bazillion assignments due all at once and finals. As I do the research and take notes for this project, I get ideas on how to make the website more beneficial than our print product. I’ve discovered technology that could streamline our workflow and eliminate a good amount of typos that make it into print. To add to it, I have ideas on how to strengthen our social media presence and to bring back long-form stories. (We used to have a monthly tabloid called For The Record where longer themed pieces could be published. Think CityBeat.) But in the back of my mind, I hear the little whispers of “no” and lack of time in general may be the reason.
I’ve been at UC long enough to work through my general education requirements at both Blue Ash and Clifton. I survived algebra and statistics, barely survived a philosophy class, and studied too much psychology. I did time as an English major, so I’ve churned out enough response papers and literature analyses, most of them at the last minute. Nothing has been more difficult than these upper level journalism classes. I should be grateful that a journalism department as small as UC’s makes up for its size by being so hardcore in instruction, but more time should be factored in somehow, especially when the professors stand up in front of their classes and talk up how we should get involved with The News Record; that it’s a great opportunity and the experience will look good on our resumes.
It won’t look good if we can only do the job half-assed. We need time to make The News Record great again, so it can endure time.
