The Death of an Industry

Have you heard about the impending demise of the journalism industry?

So have I. The only problem is it is somewhat of a myth.

Of course it is true that readers are moving online for their news. Consequently, it is also true that fewer people are reading print newspapers. What that means for print news is change and the welcoming of a new and beneficial companion --- the world wide web.

Journalism is changing and print news is lagging behind. Print news will only see an untimely death if it continues to slowly but surely adjust to something that is occurring at full speed.

So what does the web mean for print journalism?

1) Blogs - Blogs can be funny, satirical, personal and written with a specific audience in mind. Newspapers offer none of the above. With the exception of a few alternative newspapers, the news found in most daily newspapers is presented matter-of-factly. The same news story presented on the front page of The Anytown Daily is being presented on blogs around the world, but it's being presented in a way that is interesting to that blog reader.

2) Blogs again - Not only do blogs offer an alternative way for readers to gather news, they present news from different perspectives. For years, newsrooms have been in a scramble to put together a newsroom that resembles and represents the ethnic and racial makeup of this country. Unfortunately, every year ASNE reports that newspapers are still falling short of this goal. Not only does such a predicament leave newsrooms in a scramble, it leaves minorities looking for an outlet that represents them. Blogs such as Black Agenda and Hispanic Pundit help fill the gap that a lack of diversity in news can help create.

And far too many newspapers offer no compensation for internships. To add to it, labor laws require unpaid internships to be taken for academic credit. This leaves students who cannot afford to work a 40+ hour week for free while paying tuition to do so out of the running. So the journalism industry is actually helping to widen a gap it intends to close.

3) Multi-Skilled Interns - Many aspiring journalists in my generation know a thing or two about technology. Even those who do not actively try to be tech savvy may have inadvertently wandered into the land of codes and style sheets by styling a MySpace page using CSS, putting together a picture slideshow, or even editing a video for YouTube. Journalism students are eager to learn and are the perfect answer to newsrooms looking tell stories interactively.

The web is no enemy to print news. In fact, the web wants to be print news' best friend.

"Put Down that Kinara Fool!"

Anne Coulter turns my stomach. The sight of her causes feelings in the pit of my stomach that only an entire bottle of Pepto Bismol can assuage. With that said, I think the conservative succubus has a point. Several years ago, she wrote an article (that I just so happened to come across today) about the pseudo-holiday known as Kwanzaa.

As a black American, I am fully aware of the positive, family-oriented message that accompanies the meaning of this (ahem) holiday. While I applaud the principles of Kwanzaa (unity, cooperation, faith, purpose), I typically prefer my holidays to have at least a germ of history to them. Even Valentine's day with its pink-hearted cuteness has some basis in history. But where exactly does Kwanzaa come from? According to the "official Kwanzaa website," Kwanzaa is an amalgamation of traditions from various African cultures (still not sure which ones), mixed with some creativity and a dash of need-to-be-different.

Kwanzaa is an African American and Pan-African holiday which celebrates
family, community and culture. Celebrated from 26 December thru 1 January, its
origins are in the first harvest celebrations of Africa from which it takes its
name. The name Kwanzaa is derived from the phrase "matunda ya kwanza" which
means "first fruits" in Swahili, a Pan-African language which is the most widely
spoken African language.

Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor, Department
of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach, author and
scholar-activist who stresses the indispensable need to preserve, continually
revitalize and promote African American culture.

Leave it to an American professor to remind me to pretend I know where my ancestors are from. While I remain positive they are indeed from the continent of Africa, I dare not assume every region in Africa shares one culture. I'm sure a professor of black studies is fully aware of this fact. He's also aware of the fact that us black Americans are so desperate to feel a link to our roots, and so uneducated about where we come from, that we would no doubt follow suit and raise our kinaras in cooperative unity.

All that Raps is Not Hip Hop

I was 10 years old when I fell in love with hip hop. It was during the heat wave summer of 1995 on the south side of Chicago. The streets, too hot to host sessions of double Dutch and hide and seek, were empty. The usual crowd was forced to retreat inside to the home of the only neighbor with a cable television hookup. It was inside the air-conditioned walls of Ms. Jones’ two flat that I discovered the sounds and lifestyle that would speak to my soul and help me through the most troubling of times.

Hip hop is defined by urbandictionary.com as, “a culture and form of ground breaking music and self expression with elements that consisted of the elements of graffiti art, deejaying, emceeing, and breaking...the expression of the relationship between urban youth and their environment. The art of the streets.” The American Heritage Dictionary defines hip hop as, “A popular urban youth culture, closely associated with rap music and with the style and fashions of African-American inner-city residents.“ While both of these definitions offer some basic understanding of the term, the latter definition makes the common mistake of confusing hip-hop culture with mainstream rap culture.

To those of us who live and breathe hip hop, it is more than a genre. Hip hop is an art. Unfortunately, the terms hip hop and rap have been used interchangeably far too often by those who define music genres to the mainstream. Describing hip hop to those who live outside of its reaches is like describing a dream. No matter how vivid and unfeigned it is in your head, the explanation set to words just does not do it justice. Perhaps Sydney Shaw, a fictional character from the hip-hop themed movie “Brown Sugar” said it best: “So what's the difference between rap and hip hop? It's simple. It's like saying you love somebody and being in love with somebody. Rap is only a word.”

Common, De La Soul, Mos Def, A Tribe Called Quest, The Fugees, Talib Kweli, The Roots and other hip-hop artists have been unfairly lumped under the same category as 50 Cent, Nelly, Ludacris and the other chain-wearing, gun-toting rappers on MTV. Actually, hip hop and rap are polar opposites.

Rap music glorifies fancy cars, big spending, distrust for authority, and a forget-the-world attitude. MTV keeps rap music videos in heavy rotation. The foul lyrics, scantily dressed women booty shaking toward the camera and the flashy hype is characteristic of the rap music videos that dominate the mainstream. Hip-hop, however, is about uplifting. The lyrics of hip-hop songs offer listeners a bit of hope. The messages of struggle and keeping the faith relate to the listeners. Hip-hop music attempts to reach people beyond the superficial level. Hip-hop artists are poets with a microphone.

Yes, rap is a dimension of hip hop. All hip hop contains rap, but not all rap is hip hop. The act of rapping is simply talking rhythmically with the occasional clever rhyme thrown in for effect. Hip hop is a lifestyle; it is a culture that arose from the underground scenes of the Bronx and spread to urban underground scenes everywhere. Hip hop did not aspire to become a multi-billion dollar industry. In fact, even today most hip-hop artists fly under the radar. The messages and stories found in their basic, true-to-life style is lost in a sea of club songs, hood anthems and nonsensical chants. Meanwhile, rappers put out the latest video demeaning women and glorifying violence, and hip-hop artists take the rap for it.