poetic ramblings

"Journey of Happiness"

Sometimes I wonder
Just how did I
Get here?
I could have never
guessed that I could
be happy.
I thought I was
sentenced to be
the girl faking it.
The girl seeking out the
happiness that others
had.
The girl that continuously
sought out happiness
without fully knowing how to
look.
What I thought was happiness
was just a cloak of soulless hedonism.
I hadn't looked deep within
for the constant feeling
that was necessary, yet
out of reach.
Until, I made a change.
At the time it was unconscious.
I had simply decided to change locations.
Suddenly and ever so slightly,
my horizon changed.
I suddenly felt as
though I had all the
power in the world.
My old insecurities seemed to
slip away.
I was able to escape the
identity that I had somehow
foraged a way to create
and start
anew.
I got to find a way back
to my roots.
To the person I had always
known, but somehow
had left me far behind.
Because my spirit became
awakened
I was able to find true
inner peace and love.
I also finally
found someone who
respected and loved me
truly.
I have no other way to
describe it other
than I am truly
blessed and happy.
Inner peace and love
combined with someone who
can find beauty where
you can't 100 pecent
see all of it
is truly amazing.

The latest battle: business owners

I am currently trying to write a story about a business owner who is opening up a new business.

As far as I know, and logic can dictate, he would want the publicity. Publicity would only draw customers in. It would bring out the curious customers who do not happen to hear about he restaurant. I would find that a little bit hard to believe that people haven't heard about it, since I am writing about a small town. Nonetheless, I am trying just to do an informative article with hope of a feature angle.

This is still proving a struggle.

At the moment, I am playing phone tag. A scheduled call (since I am without transportation for the moment) wasn't even quite enough.

I am trying to be understanding. I can't imagine owning a business being an easy venture. I'm sure plenty stress exists without a journalist trying to call and take up valuable time.

However, I am getting increasingly frustrated and irritated. I see this as a simple story that I should be able to get done. I can't foresee the interview taking much more than 20 minutes.

Does anyone know of any tips?

I am determined to interview this gentleman. The funny thing is that, as of yet, I've yet to know his name, much less how I will spell it in my article.

Since I've been a little lackluster...

I am fully planning on putting up a couple real posts later in the week. To come: Information from Coffee Party meetings, and new story commentary. What can I say? I've been a little busy bee. That just means I have more to share with you.

For now, I feel compelled so share some linkage with you. These stories are catching my eye. If you didn't know about them, I hope I've sparked your interest.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/236999

This seems very homophobic. I don't really like how this was written, an am glad that a few have spoken out about it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/10/the-funniest-news-freeze_n_568372.html

Everyone needs a little amusement. Heres's something I found.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-kuttner/teachable-moments----but_b_569476.html

I dig other blogs too! Here's one I've stumbled upon.

http://www.usatoday.com/video/index.htm?bctid=83733863001#/%22Glee%22+actress+Lea+Michele/83733863001

I'm slightly engrossed by Glee right now. I'm a total Gleek, to be fair.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2010-05-10-editorial10_ST_N.htm

I agree completely! This seems to overstep a horrible boundary!

Hopefully these were tasty for you. Let me know what you think!

the current climate

I've been to several recent meetings of a political nature. I walked away with a new prospective. I suppose its not really a new prospective, just something that was enhanced by people I ran into. It is also something that poses an interesting question for me.

The public really doesn't trust many, if any at all, American journalists.

This is not something new to me, but something I suppose I had pushed out of my mind slightly.

One claim is the amount of bias and propaganda. The people I listened to say they miss the objectivity of a newscast from yesteryear. Today has too much political leaning for anything to be considered free of bias. Some networks are even known for their leaning, even though I will not name names. Some of that has been explained by the nature of journalism as a business.

It would also seem, from their viewpoint that many reporters are shying away from being hard-hitting. Many of them, for whatever reason, are not doing big investigative pieces. Many of them are being pushed away from those. As a tiny amount of insight, that could be coming from the upper level. It isn't necessarily about what story sells the most ( although I'm sure sometimes that is the case). It may be that its about money in the sense of salary. Many newspapers don't have time, money or people to expend toward investigative pieces. Ergo, a lot of press release, fed from mouth of political agenda person, gets put out as news.

I would, as some other people, like to see hunger for facts and fact-checking. Many people argue that has gone away.

Another argument was what gets coverage by the media. This is something I've written about before. It seems as though the level of newsworthiness has changed from what it used to be. Rallies in Springfield don't get coverage, but other things like Tiger Woods do. It doesn't seem as though many stories about the wars of Irag and Afghanistan have been reported upon recently, either.

So, with all this criticism, one question remains for me. Since I love journalism and want to make it my career, how do I change this? What can I do to regain the public's trust, and become all the things that I strive for?