As stated in last week’s column, politics are an evil drug I would never allow near my bloodstream. But as I spiral deeper and deeper into my journalism addiction, it is closer to becoming a viable coping mechanism on a daily basis.
On this particular occasion, La Voz news editor Refugio Garcia and I had taken on the responsibility of writing an open letter to aspiring De Anza Associated Student Body Senate candidates as this issue’s editorial. Deep in the process of brainstorming, I began to realize that as a journalist, low risk, fluffy stories yield little credibility, lacking the personal victories that are only achieved through diligent field research. Refugio and I had compiled a list of qualities we’d like to see in the student senators, but chose to present it in a positive instead of negative light, which I believe to be a product of Obama’s proactive approach to politics, as opposed to the reactive approach of the Bush Administration.
Being born too late has also had an extremely limiting effect on my comprehension of American life directly following Sept. 11. When George W. Bush enacted the Patriot Act, I was unhealthily following the gospel of Holden Caulfield. With the nation terrified of another attack from religious fanatics and left in a state of media-driven hysteria, I found myself terrified of rejection by unwisely selected role models and abusing myself over situations that I had no control over.
One of the most frustrating parts about being born too late is either assimilating to a culture that I can’t possibly identify with, or creating my own culture and choosing to associate only with those who have forged a similar, yet unique path.
It truly is hard finding great contemporary music on a massively distributed medium such as FM radio. I’d like to be able to consider MTV a credible source to discover music, but the network stopped playing real music a long time ago, and is currently riding the wave of reality TV shows that started with their “cutting edge” programming, “The Real World.”
As an idealistic teenager, unaware of the concept of a target demographic, I once had the ability to regard television as a form of entertainment. Now, I must make the conscious decision to watch television, in order to analyze the messages that are force fed to our society.
After all the content analysis, it feels that I’ve only learned that sensationalism, a conceptual enemy of journalistic integrity, sells Proxy-Connection: keep-aliveCache-Control: max-age=0
ke sex. Every time I see a tabloid in the aisle of a grocery store, I no longer have the ability to simply ignore its existence, or god forbid even read one of these crimes to society. This only goes to show that the loss of innocence and the death of idealism, although initially devastating to the sheltered foundation that my loving parents built for me, have become a resource, easily accessible at any moment. And, from now on, the awkward phases that compromised my happiness as a teenager are just well learned lessons and it’s time to move on.
