Those of you with a passing familiarity with social networking site Facebook Buy ativan online, know that you can form groups together with like-minded people there. Groups range from the earnestly serious ("Helping solve world hunger", Cheap klonopin, 5962 members), through the utilitarian (numerous groups are formed to connect people in a particular company or workplace), to the downright silly ("I Don't Care How Comfortable Crocs Are, Minnesota MN Minn., You Look Like A Dumbass", Ativan sale, 621 802 members).
Of course, journalists also found groups on Facebook - many of them even about journalism and its pursuit, ordering klonopin online legally. Here are some of my favourite titles (a completely un-representative, Cheap klonopin online legally, non-scientific sample), with some comments at the end (likewise not based on stringent analysis):
- Trust me. I'm a journalist, Connecticut CT Conn.. According to the brief description, this group (which boasts 9467 members) "For those who barely make the deadlines, always need to be in-the-know, work crazy hours covering hurricanes, have seen their fair share of car accidents and knocked on more than enough doors of criminals and grieving families -- all for a byline or 1:30 of airtime."
- Journalism makes me drink, 700 members, buy ativan online. From the description: "Do you enjoy getting soused, Ohio OH, legless, crunked, or just generally pissed, ativan pharmacy. Can you drink more than it would take to kill an Indian Elephant. Klonopin, If you answered "yes" to any of the above questions, then you, my friend, klonopin sale, are a journalist.This is a group for those, Pennsylvania PA Penn., including trainees, who are turned to booze by editors, lecturers or the lack of money.Soon, klonopin cheap, contractual obligations will require you to be an alcoholic within a year of becoming a hack." There is also the related I'm not an alcoholic, Ordering klonopin without prescription, I'm a journalist, with a more modest 356 members.
- Feral Beasts of the Media, 1336 members, Oklahoma OK Okla.. From the description: "Hunting in packs in search of that 24 hour breaking views story, Wisconsin WI Wis., tearing people and reputations to bits (including our own)!"
- My absolute personal favourite, If they don't call in the next 5 minutes, this source better be in a coma", ordering klonopin overnight delivery, 345 members. Buy ativan online, From the description: "This is a support group for all bitter journalism students, reporters, etc. Cheap ativan from canada, who have developed a general hatred of people who don't keep their phones on them 24/7. My deadline is in two hours. You better be hospitalized or dead."
- And of the more utilitarian type, cheapest ativan price, Journalists and Facebook, Lowest price ativan, 4276 members. From the description: "All the recent Facebook buzz has got us wondering: What can journalists (and the news organizations they work for) learn from the site?"
So, from these groups we can deduce that journalists are a hard-drinking lot, buy ativan online legally, forever out of time and fast approaching deadline, Klonopin price, and who would prefer their sources to have their mobile phones hardwired into their heads (which may be related to their occasional interest in new technology and online phenomena). They also come across as a group always ready to make fun of themselves, buy ativan online.
On a slightly more serious note, the purely utilitarian groups outnumber the more flippant ones, klonopin without a prescription, of course (BBC, Wisconsin WI Wis., Washington Post etc all have Facebook groups). But it is very interesting to note how persistent the image of the journalist as a hard-hitting, carousing, cheap klonopin no prescription, adventurous, Order ativan online cheap, carousing, frontline, techno-phile and carousing type is - despite the fact that this type of journalist (as well as the journalism they produce) is fast disappearing. What came to mind when I saw these Facebook groups was an excellent 1998 article
by Meryl Aldridge, "The tentative hell-raisers: identity and mythology in contemporary UK press journalism", in which she talks argues that the more journalistic reality diverges from the myths of journalism, the more persistent the myths become. Put in a simpler fashion (and based on a table from p 124 of said article), journalism today is characterised by proprietorial control, being revenue-driven, moving towards soft news and features, being credentialed and primarily a female occupation. Therefore it becomes more important to reinforce the myth of journalism as editorially-controlled and editorially-driven, dominated by hard news, and being made up of self-made (as opposed to credentialled) men (not women). The Aldridge article may be difficult to get if you don't have access to scholarly databases, but you can find an article by her covering similar themes here.
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7 responses so far ↓
John Kelly // Oct 30, 2007 at 4:48 pm
One of my old desks at The Washington Post was at the edge of an aisle that cut across the newsroom. It happened to be at a thoroughfare that tour groups visiting The Post usually traipsed down. Knowing how persistent the myth of the hard-drinking journalist is, I always wanted to keep a bottle of scotch in my bottom desk drawer to whip out whenever visitors walked by. Instead, I just made sure to close eBay on my screen so as not to ruin the illusion.
Henrik // Oct 30, 2007 at 4:54 pm
*giggle*
richard danbury // Oct 31, 2007 at 7:48 pm
How interesting. Ms Aldridge’s conclusions aren’t borne out by my experience, but perhaps I work in a statistical outrider.
Henrik // Oct 31, 2007 at 9:35 pm
That’s Dr Aldridge to you, Richard
And on a more serious note: Her work to date has mostly been on the UK press rather than on broadcasting. My sense is that broadcast journalists have their own myths - certainly the classic on work in the BBC by Burns (1971) bears out a completely different ideal to the “hard-drinking, hard-hitting, self-made” journalist within the BBC.
ND // Nov 6, 2007 at 7:44 am
Henrik, thank you for this entertaining post. As a university student studying journalism, I have perused many of the Facebook groups you mention, though I never stepped back to consider the message such factions send. However, it is important to remember that most of these groups were created for tongue-in-cheek self-mockery, with creators going so far as to create journalistic caricatures of themselves. As you justly point out, most of the traits celebrated by the groups (a “hard-hitting, carousing, adventurous, carousing, frontline, techno-phile”) are indeed myths and do not truly reflect the diversity of today’s young journalists. I think it is a curious point that as these “myths of journalism” age, their ethereal presence is only bolstered. For a generation that hates to be pigeonholed, why support a group that lumps all journalists into one outdated stereotype? Perhaps the image of boisterous, alcoholic, male reporters is more entertaining than anything else. However, I am curious about the networking implications of such groups. You note the growth of serious groups (usually centered on a common employer), but do you believe these more casual groups offer any benefits of networking among members likely to be future colleagues?
Henrik // Nov 6, 2007 at 8:49 am
Dear ND,
Many thanks for your comments - of course most of these groups are tounge-in-cheek, as was part of my post (I hope).
As for networking opportunities - of course casual groups offer network opportunities too (just like chatting to journalists from a workplace other than your own in the bar after work). Just looking at the “Trust me, I’m a journalist group” seems to indicate that - it has a lively discussion group, people post links and videos etc. I am sure some of the groups are either a) started by some friends and mostly for them and their friends, or b) groups that people join just because the group name looks cool on their facebook profile page, so the networking possibilities (as always) are dependent on what the members are willing to put into the group - and what they think the group is for.
Erik Lundbom // Nov 26, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Slightly silly: The Exile is showing their readers the facebook page of plagiarizing journalist Luke Harding http://www.exile.ru/transient/276/harding.jpg
Is there a group for lazy journalists as well?
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