Blogging: The Future of News?

This past summer, I had the priviledge of interning at The Dallas Observer and working on a couple of blogs for “City of Ate” otherwise knows as the food blog. My first assignment was to cover a bar revamping at Lazare. My editor gave me the name of the guy I needed to talk to and sent me on my merry little way. So I went, asked the usual questions, took some photos and wrote the story the next day. Only problem: I’m a journalism major. My first journalism professor denounced bloggers and blogging as the plague of journalists. That teacher swore they(bloggers) were going to put us(journalists) out of a job in the future. While we were out in the field ”accurately reporting the truth, “citizen journalists were spewing out opinions and facts without checking to make sure they were in fact, facts. Such was my perception of blogging up until my internship. So back to my story…as I’m writing up this story, I’m conciously aware that my writing is absolutely nothing like the snarky, satirical voice of The Observer. Not only that, but I’m also conciously aware that I’m omitting my opinion of the restaurant (Dallas Observer blogs are swimming with opinions). I’ll just throw out the fact that it was PAINFUL adding my opinion. I was so afraid that the ethics shark was going to swim out of the screen and gobble me up alive for inserting opinion in a published piece of work. That little voice inside my head kept screaming, “Neutral! Neutral!”  By the end of the internship, I had a newfound appreciation for blogging.

So where is the future of news going? “The State of the News Media,” an annual report on American journalism, proclaims that “the deep recession threatens the weakest papers,” and that “more people are going to the web because of the bad economy.” Events like the election of 2008, showed a stark increase in online blogging. “Bloggers are people with attitude….There has literally been an explosion of opinion,” said Gerry McGovern in her web article “Blogs and Blogging: advantages and disadvantages,” published in 2004.

So what are the advantages to this opinionated style of writing?

Well, for starters, journalists appreciate story leads. After all, part of writing on deadline is actually having something to write about. Answer: bloggers. With such a heterogenous group of individuals out there blogging, there’s a larger variety of sources to use for stories. With more people writing, there are more story ideas. Take for instance Twitter. On Monday, Terry Morgan, an ABC News Reporter who overheard Obama ”unofficially” call Kanye West a “jackass” for stealing the limelight during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the VMAs, Twittered what he’d said. The comment was later removed but not before the news started spreading.  This is just one example which accounts for bloggers lighting the fire beneath the kettle.

Blogging is short, sweet and to the point and is an important tool to find what’s on the minds of readers. “Blogs can be a positive way of getting feedback, and keeping your finger on the pulse, as readers react to certain pieces, suggest story ideas, etc,” said Gerry McGovern. They have the potential to make the audience more familiar with the reporter.

My experience at The Observer taught me to step out from behind the shield that journalists  hide behind. I was forced to break free from my introverted self and step into the role of an extrovert when blogging. At the same time, I still upheld my responsibility to “seek the truth and report it”.

Blogs serve a purpose in the nuance of digital media. They may not be the future of news, but they play a role in informing the public.

Faith Through Works

Ayman Taleb sits propped in one of the many chairs clustered in the GAB building at the University of North Texas. Clad in a sky blue polo shirt, white undershirt and grey dress pants, he stands out in the crowd of the roll-out-of-bed attire that many university students adorn. As students load their backpacks with books and homework assignments in preparation for lunch, Ayman remains seated, waiting for his next class to begin. With Ramadan in full swing, Ayman cannot eat or drink during daylight hours. Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, is a time to practice patience, modesty and show honor for God (Allah, as He’s known in Arabic) through fasting. Ayman is a Muslim and it is a belief that shapes his entire life from the clothes he wears to the person he will one day marry.

His mother, Bassima Dandan, was 14 when she fled Beirut, Lebanon with her mother during the Lebanese Civil War. It was a war that left over 1,000,000 citizens wounded, many with lifelong disabilities and another 130,000 to 250,000 people dead. She and her mother fled to Gainesville, Florida, where her father and brother awaited them. The year was 1976; merely a year after the civil war began. It would be three more years before she would meet the man she would spend the rest of her life with.

Monzer Taleb, an immigrant from Kuwait of Syrian and Lebanese descent, was living in Dallas when he heard news of a girl living in Florida. With marriage on his mind, he drove down to Florida to meet with her parents, there leaving a good impression with Bassima’s mother. A few months later, they were married.

“When it comes to marriage, it’s very objective. During courtship there is no touching, no kissing and every date  is with a chaperone,” Ayman says.

Ayman, their oldest son, was born on May 30, 1985.  Before attending pre-school, he could speak only Arabic with little to no English. By the time he was 7- years-old, he could speak fluent English. High school was a culture shock. Women in  Muslim society dress very modestly, only showing their face and hands.

“There’s an automatic level of respect,” says Ayman.

In Ayman’s eyes, a person is like a car. For scantily clad women who like to “bare all,” he refers to them as having “high mileage”.

“They’ve been around,” he says.

His faith and his modest upbringing have shaped his values and the way he sees the world around him, including movies. His favorite movie may be “Braveheart,” but he still gets squeamish during the mushy scenes.

“If there’s a couple kissing on TV, even if they’re married, I look away,” he says, turning his head to the side as if he were seeing an embarrassing makeout session. “That’s how conservative I am.”

That conservativeness translates to parties as well. At Muslim get- togethers, men are on one side and women are on the other. If he sees someone he’s interested in, he signals to his mom or his sister and they’ll go and talk to the girl. If his family likes her, than he makes the next move. Fun equals clean. There is no alcohol. “Everyone,” he says, “knows how to have fun without it.”

Yes, Ayman’s faith is a key part of his life, so much so, that it compelled him to want to tell a story. Not just any story. This story took him four years to complete with the end product being a three part trilogy play entitled, “Mercy to Mankind,” chronicling the life of Mohammad. With a cast of over 100 individuals, Ayman produced parts II and III and directed part III.

“My inspiration was the story itself,” he says. “I can hear it a thousand times over and I never get bored with it. The elements of sacrifice, of struggle that took place in that story, blows my mind. That was my drive.”

A journalism major at the University of North Texas, Ayman loves the thrill that comes with deadlines and telling a good story. He already has three other plays in the works, although they’re on the hold shelf for now. One is a satire on the Muslim-American society.

“I want to hold up a mirror to the Muslim community to say, ’Here’s what’s wrong with us!’ I want the community to realize the funny things about us and also some things that need to change that are holding us back from being part of the American society at large.”

The other is a story chronicling the life of Jesus as told through Islamic tradition. The third, a story about Moses.

“ In journalism and in theater, you can use both mediums to tell stories…. I love telling stories and I love to write.”