The future awaits...my weekend at the ACP Conference
"Journalism is dying," says 90 percent of the people in the world.
Well, last weekend I discovered that journalism is not dying...it will never die, it is just evolving.
I had the amazing opportunity to attend the Associated Collegiate Press's national college journalism conference in Los Angeles and it was an experience I will never forget. The conference consists of hundreds of seminars led by professionals in every field of journalism you can think of, keynote speakers, and even one-on-one learning opportunities.
Almost every single seminar I went to consisted of the leaders making a point that the journalism industry is not going away, contrary to popular belief, it is just changing--it is up to our generation to use that to our advantage.
One of my favorite speakers was the keynote: CNN's Brian Stelter.
Stelter was actually not even going to be a speaker until a couple weeks before the conference, when the original keynote, David Carr, tragically passed away. Carr was Stelter's mentor for years when he worked for the New York Times, so he honored Carr by taking the opportunity to teach us what he would have.
Stelter was sure to stress the fact that we have an advantage: we are the ones who grew up with all of the technology that is apparently taking over print media. We know how to opperate social media and blog sites and we are the ones who are going to experience the full evolution of journalism.
He also made a point that stuck with me: no matter how little this industry pays or how hard it is to get a job, if we love what we do, none of that stuff matters.
"Figure out what kind of passion you have and see where it takes you," Stelter said.
The highlight of my weekend was when I had the opportunity to have a one-on-one meeting with a professional in our desired field. That is when I got the chance to meet the amazing Patricia Bunin.
Bunin is a columnist for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group and she writes her own column: Senior Moments.
My dream is to one day have my own column in a a magazine or newspaper and it was crazy that I just so happened to sit down with someone who has been in the industry all her life and coincidentally has her own lifestyle column.
The best piece of advice she gave me was to be prepared to do a little bit of everything.
"Do what you do best but take every opportunity to bring more people in. Be prepared to do everything and be aggressive without being obnoxious," Bunin said.
She also told me to try and set myself apart from the competition. She mentioned finding another way to write about something that everyone else is talking about.
Bunin always challenges herself, she is never content with where she is. She told me to never get comfortable and to always try and make my work better than it was last time.
Overall, my weekend at the ACP Conference got me so excited for my future. It made me realize how passionate I am about this field and also showed me the steps I need to take in order to be successful.
Journalism is not dying...it is just changing and I plan on embracing that change.