N is for new

It's been more than a month since I last posted to my blog, and so much has happened since then. Instead of having one long, streaming thought that you could probably only follow if you've ever spoken to me in person, I decided to create a list of the new stuff in my life. This post is brought to you by the letter N for new!

1. Check out the awesome header! 
My dear friend Maddy Meatte is a very talented graphic designer and she used her mad creative skills to create the fantastic new top to my blog. She asked what I wanted and I said, "pop art with some Mexican influence" and this is what she came up with. I'm in love with it. It's cute and kind of a throwback to comic books, which I secretly like (and now that cat's out of the bag.)
But more about Maddy: She will design just about anything you need on paper. She just started her own etsy shop  where she has created some very cute Razorback note cards, among a ton of other stuff. The girl designs in her sleep, I think. If I was a Razorback fan, I'd buy them. I'm sure she could use the same Razorback guy on a baby shower invite, or whatever you would need. Trust me, she's good. I've already got her down to design my wedding invites whenever I find a guy who wants to marry me. So check out her shop, or visit her blog. She's all sorts of creative. She once made an old TV into a digital photo frame. Talent, I tell ya!

2. I've moved on up in this business. 
If you get to see my Facebook posts on your News Feed, I'm sure you were surprised about a month ago when I announced that I had a new job. Yes, I did get a new job in February of this year, but it wasn't my cup of tea. I was designing a lot of pages. A LOT OF PAGES. Sure, designing newspaper pages is fun for awhile, but it lost it's luster when I went from doing 6 to 7 pages a day, to doing whole newspapers. I wasn't writing a lot and I didn't get to be a part of a community. I knew I wanted something different, which is when I got the call from my current boss. He said something along the lines of, "I know you've won awards for writing news stories, so if you're not writing news stories, you're not reaching your full potential. I want you to work for us and write news." So that's what I did -- though the getting the job wasn't that easy. I've slightly embellished the whole process. Nevertheless, I'm now the senior staff writer at one of the top daily newspapers in the state. Word.
So with that being said, I don't have a lot of free time at the new job, so I don't blog and since I don't have internet at my apartment yet, I can't blog there either. I'm sitting in a coffee shop in my new town, blogging before I go home. I finished my homework about mass communication and rewarded myself by updating my blog. I'm weird, I know.

3. I live in a new town.
Part of the "requirements" of taking my new job was I had to move, which has put me about 30 minutes north of where I grew up. I now live in a rather conservative, small college town, but don't get too excited -- it's still a dry county. They are in abundance in Arkansas.
But I have a sweet new apartment that doesn't have annoying children next door, and it has a balcony. Add to that a walk-in closet, a huge bathroom counter, lots of kitchen counter space, and a whole second half bathroom, and you'll understand why I completely dig my new place.
The only downside to the new town is it really far away from a lot of people I know. It's a good 45 minute drive to class on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. It's an hour and 45 minutes to Russ Vegas. Yeah, I spend a lot of time on the road, but it's nice to come back home to my lovely little place.

4. Grad school is a killer this semester. 
I'm taking nine hours in graduate school this semester, which means I have class three nights a week. After working all day, the last thing I ever want to do is drive to Little Rock, but I keep pushing on because it will be so nice to not have to worry about class once this semester concludes. I'm not going to lie though -- it's tough. I get a little tired of talking about the media, but at the same time, I love talking about it. My Tuesday class just boggles my mind, but in a good way -- like the way a work out class kicks your butt, yet you know it's good for you. Tuesday is a Boot Camp for my brain. Wednesday is a challenge to understand the First Amendment, but I've already learned a lot in there as well. I've looked at this semester as the last 5 miles of a marathon -- five miles seems easy, but after you've ran 21, it takes all you can do to keep moving. I just have to keep moving and eventually, I'll reach the finish when I graduate in the Spring. I have to take comprehensive exams first, which will be in the Spring as well.

5. I don't like even numbers. 
I come from a family of five. There are three children. I like odd numbers, so with that being said, I had to make my list to No. 5. So kids, I'm on a new adventure in a new town with a new job. It's exciting. Every day is a learning experience but in the month since I've been here, I can tell you it's been a great move so far. If you want to follow my adventure closer, follow me on Twitter @MollzFlem.

Otherwise, don't forget to check out all of Maddy's stuff on Etsy. She's an awesome person and I know you'll love her designs. Thanks for reading the whole post. I'll post more and shorter soon. :)

We will survive

Whenever people hear that I'm a newspaper reporter, often times they reply with, "That's kind of dying business, isn't it?"
I have to disagree. My response is, "Well, someone has to write the news that is posted online."

While I have read the countless stories of newspapers going bankrupt, and communities being left without a paper, I like to think that somewhere out there, newspapers will still exist for at least another 20 years.
For you see, not everyone in this country is getting their news from the internet. For that to happen, every person in the U.S. would have to own a computer, or have daily access to it. And given the economic situation this country is currently in, I don't think that will happen anytime soon. I do realize that people can access the internet through wireless networks and cell phones, but once again, the same problem still remains -- people need to have a device to access the internet.

Therefore, the complete death of the newspaper is being protected by the internet boundary since not everyone has access to it. Small town communities still have lively newspapers. They may not be thriving, but people are buying them, if only to read the obituaries.
Now, according to our president, he wants to put internet access in the hands of everyone, and if that is possible (and he gives everyone a computer), then yes, the newspaper business will see an even more dramatic decline.
But it won't die -- just yet.
Many people 50 and younger are used to doing everything online. Yet, there are still some that are 50 and over that would rather turn on their lawn mower than turn on a computer. They want nothing to do with a computer and would rather read the hard copy of everything -- from their bills to their news.
When this generation (which includes my lovely parents) eventually goes to see the Good Lord, then I fear that the newspaper will meet its demise. The lifeblood of a newspaper is advertisers, and with so many digital forms of advertisement out there, the new generation of business owners will not want to resort back to the "old fashioned" way of advertisement. They will want to reach their customers as often and wherever they can, so the hard copy newspaper will not be their primary source. Thus, they will not invest in hard copy newspapers, they will use their dollars at Groupon or on Facebook.
But even if the newspaper does die in 20 years that doesn't mean the end of the reporter. People will still want reliable news. And like is said earlier, someone has to write the copy that is generated on the internet. Computers can't do everything, people.
Sure, there is this turn to the "citizen journalist," but there are still intelligent people out there who know that the news generated on local social networking sites is really just gossip unless validated by a credible source. A reporter's job is to find that credible source and get all of the information, even if that story will only be posted online.
Therefore, reporters will still be needed. They will still capture the images of daily life. They will still tell the stories of people and their communities.
My biggest concern is that as the newspapers continue to diminish, I often worry about the preservation abilities of the internet. Sure, once you put something out in cyberspace, it's there forever. But will people still print off the pictures of their children from online media sites and put them on the refrigerator? Will honor roll lists and scholarship announcements be posted on media sites? Information such as this is the beauty of the community newspaper. Anyone who grew up in a small town and has had their picture in the paper has probably heard someone tell their parents, "Oh, I saw So-and-so's picture/name in the paper this weekend. That's exciting." Will the online media take that away?
Only time will tell, but I can only hope that history will not get lost as the newspaper moves to the internet. One of the features that I treasure about my job is that essentially, I am recording history. Will the internet still serve as a record of history when newspapers are gone? I can only hope.