I strongly believe that public awareness leads to positive change. Unfortunately, I have noticed a recent trend in the media to sensationalize news stories, which lack substance and do not encourage such change. My goal is to inform large audiences about current and important issues, which is why I plan on pursuing a career in broadcast journalism.
I have no desire to report on trivial events. Instead, I hope to cover events that I believe the public should be aware. The fact that Syria's civil war has displaced more than nine million people and killed over 190,000 in the past three and a half years is a topic that I believe should be discussed by more Americans. I hope to report on newsworthy events like these and therefore bridge this gap in public awareness.
More specifically, I hope to be a foreign correspondent for news organizations like BBC or Al Jazeera and model a career after Christiane Amanpour. I want to report on hard-hitting, relevant news that will truly enlighten people. I also hope to broadcast to younger audiences because I believe that only informed citizens can subsequently make informed decisions as voters. Unfortunately, I have noticed that this is not a priority for many people, especially my generation. My goal is to change this paradigm.
Lastly, I strongly believe that staying informed about current events is a civic and ethical responsibility. As citizens of a world that is undergoing rapid globalization, we must care for and understand our neighbors. The United States possesses great power and influence, and if our citizens are not properly informed, we risk missing an opportunity to help others in need.
In regards to online media, I am very inexperienced, but I am eager to learn. Over the duration of this course, I want to learn how to create online story packages, as well as, my own personal website.
For the past six months, I worked at Vice News, which is an online news outlet that effectively relays information to the masses. Throughout my time at Vice News, I witnessed the power social media had in spreading information from around the world. I also realized how necessary it is to have a clear and visual way of spreading that information on a website to attract viewers. By the end of this course, I want to be able to effectively spread important information on a website.
In other courses at USC, I have learned how to produce my own broadcast packages and use software like Adobe Premiere. However, I have never used programs like Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Audition and Audacity. I also don't know very much about website basics, coding, web design or infographics. I also would like to better understand the different tiers for multimedia and how to effectively use them. Lastly, I don't actively use social media, but would like to learn social network reporting via Twitter.
Although I don't know much yet about online media, I am looking forward to learning the basics in this class because I understand how important online journalism is for spreading important information.
Link to Twitter PageBy Drennon Kimpton
