Extra! Extra newslinks!

With the proliferation of blogs and sites like Facebook connecting people all over the world, this generation has essentially let loose the floodgates of information.

Whether it's international news or a detailed profile of a random student you met on MySpace, there are few limits anymore as to what you can access.

I find it interesting that the Orlando Sentinel placed links on Facebook after the University of Central Florida ran out of water bottles at their very hot first game. Maybe it's a little unconventional to place a seemingly random link on a website parading cheesy online student clubs of all sorts. But the Sentinel writers new what they were doing when they placed a link to their article responding to the UCF water fiasco on the page of Facebook group "Knights for Free Water."

And why not? The paper was simply targeting and audience that would be interested in that particular story.

Bloggers essentially do the same thing, only they are not necessarily promoting themselves. They link to other new sites and provide a quick passage to other Web surfers. It's the internet version of magazines. Publications like Glamour and Sports Illustrated target to entirely different audiences. They are meant to appeal to a certain demographic--a certain gender, age group and social standing. These magazines promote themselves with covers displaying teasers of the content within.

Placing links to certain articles or news tidbits on related sites is essentially advertising like a magazine cover. It creates easier access to relevant information to people who care. Doing this is not only a smart move to improve readership, but it's also efficient.

Me

Applying to colleges was a lot like browsing through the sale rack at American Eagle. There were so many attractive choices, but they were either the wrong size or too expensive.

When I visited the University of Tennessee in November 2003, I had no intention of ever attending. After all, I was only applying to make my parents happy. The day was cold, rainy and gray. Campus was deserted, and apparently most of the students had retreated from the cold to their dorms for an afternoon nap. But fate has a funny way of manifesting itself.

Good Ol' Rocky Top (Whoo!)

The home of the Volunteers won my heart that day, and I found myself in denial over my new conviction that I must go to UT. In August 2004, I began my freshman year in Knoxville and have never regretted my decision.

Since then, I have been presented with so many opportunities to learn and get experience in my fields of study, which are journalism and Spanish. This past summer, for example, I interned at a small local newspaper at home. Because it is a paper in its infant stages, I was able to report and write several stories a week, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

My Spanish major has been a great complement to journalism, and since I tutor students in the language, it has made me realize my desire to teach.

I will graduate a semester early this December and will start grad school at MTSU in the spring. Once I get my master's in foreign language education, I'd like to teach high school. If my opportunities are as great as they've been, I'll not only teach Spanish, but hopefully I can head up the school paper too.

News habits--oh, how they change

As a journalism student, I find myself constantly overwhelmed by the amount of information that bombards my life. With today's technology, it's hard to get away from in-your-face celebrity news and ads. Fortunately though, TV's only turn on when you push the "power" button, and the internet and newspapers are available at your convenience. Seems like I've got
plenty of choices.

Friday, September 21
12:15 p.m.

I've got a couple of minutes before class starts, so I figure I'll skim the Daily Beacon and see what's up. I end up skipping the front page article about senior honors program students--I'm not one, so it doesn't apply. I'm vaguely interested in an article on a quack photographer that has claimed several photos taken by other individuals as his own. Al Sharpton...blah, blah. Then I skip back a page to read about a big Tennesee drug bust. I think its pretty cool since my dad is the head of the Drug Enforcement in Tennessee and part of Georgia. He'd been on the been on the news a day earlier.

2:00 p.m.

I'm in a hurry, so I decide to make it quick. I get online and check out Nealz Nuze on boortz.com. From skimming quickly, I notice a link to Hillary Clinton's healthcare plan, followed shortly by an entire section on global warming. I'm not a fan of either, but I think it's interesting because elections are coming up. I check the link briefly and read the global warming news, but unfortunately, I have to miss out on the rest because I'm going to be late for my final fitting for my wedding dress.

Just from looking at a day's worth of news habits, I see that they have changed some since I was in high school. Before I came to college, I relied more on the newspaper and TV for news. I never really considered the internet. Now, however, I find the internet more convenient, and I have more options and variety. When I actually take the time, or when I'm waiting for class to start, I can check several different sites at once, from the Wall Street Journal to the Knoxville News Sentinel.

As I get older, I can't imagine that I'll give up checking news on the internet. However, I do see myself having more time to read the paper or catch the news after work. Right now, with a class schedule that changes every other day, whatever is quickest works. I just have to remember
all the news sources at my fingertips and read as many different ones as possible so I can have a more balanced perspective on events.