Essay #4

Using the Wall Street Journal instead of a traditional textbook has been a unique learning experience. While it was, and still is a difficult task to find time to sit down and read through the newspaper, it was refreshing to take a course that tried something new. I'm used to, and therefore prefer the standard textbook method simply because I have all the information I need bound to one book instead of being spread over weeks of newspapers. Although not having a mid-term or final exam was a big relief. 

Considering I like to get my news from television or the web, I will not be continuing my subscription to the Wall Street Journal. It was an interesting read, but ultimately I don't like having newspapers around. I can find out what I need to know online, and when I'm done there's no mess of papers to clean up. 

As far as class improvement, I would like to see more textbook integration next time around and have newspapers as a bonus. Use the textbook as the main method of study, but have extra credit quizzes or questions based off things found in the paper, thus inspiring students to subscribe and read the Wall Street Journal. 

I'm a Film Major and I took this course to get a broader view on mass communications as a whole and I feel as though it did help to open my eyes to other forms entertainment and media and is an overall great course to take if your going into any fields discussed in the class or journalism itself. 

Ultimately, great class with interesting new methods of learning. Will definitely recommend to any students curious about the class. 

Essay No. 3 -- Social Networking

Millions of users on the planet now use the internet for social networking. I happen to use two, Facebook and Twitter. I used to use only MySpace but the system ran too slow and always was down for technical issues. 

I spend an average of maybe 3 hours a week on social networking sites. They do have value to me, but I wouldn't spend more than $20 a year to access them. However, in that first year if none of my good friends were paying to keep their accounts it renders Facebook and Twitter pointless and would then make me stop using these social networking sites as well. 

Wall Street Journal Essay

Prior to reading the Wall Street Journal my newspaper reading habits were minimal. In fact the last time I had touched a newspaper was on September 12th, 2001. Ever since then I hear about news from my mainly my parents and the internet (ABCNews.com) It's easier for me to navigate and doesn't require having to put a paper in the recycle bin at the end of each day. 

I feel as though our country has little need for newspapers and they will be one day phased out. Not because people don't read the news, but because the younger generation is able to find it faster and easier with advances in computers, cell phones and the internet. While I've never actually flipped through and read a newspaper, I'm curious to see how it will play out in this class. I'm definitely disciplined enough to sit down and read one, so we'll see if at the end of the term if I become a newspaper addict. 

Finally, a traditional textbook is somewhat boring. Every class feels the same with one, you'd think a class about Journalism would use actually pieces (ie. newspapers, magazines, etc) to educate the students, not some textbook that will be outdated at the end of each semester.

My $.02

-Garrett Lexell