LA Youth

Unfortunately, LA Youth had the organization's last meeting today after 25 years of publishing works of aspiring journalist. Although I only belonged on the staff since early November and only made it to three meetings, I learned a few key aspects of journalism.

First, journalism is face paced or takes time. Despite not having my work published in the future issue of LA Youth, I worked on my piece about piercings and the public's image of beauty. Defying standards are important to me, because it encompasses a small part of the type of journalism and writer I aspire to be in the future. A writer that is more concerned about real-world issues, versus what celebrity is pregnant or who got caught smoking weed recently.

Second, journalism conveys a piece of the soul not found in any other writer. Similarly to social media, a piece of someone is tied to words that we write or read since it is telling a story. Regardless if it is only 140 characters on Twitter, or on the front page of a newspaper, a piece of someone is invested in a story, and becomes a part of us.

And third, social media is not the new face of journalism. In all actuality, social media is a part of journalism that has never touched before. It is in a realm that does not replace traditional print or digital journalism, but enhances it by giving any person in the world not only the availability to access information, but talk back to it or share it with the click of a button or the swipe of the key.

Even though my time at LA Youth was short-lived, the time spent hearing others' stories and giving feedback on pieces of work, this experience was helpful to my pursuit on why social media and journalism defines culture as it is today.

Currently, I am trying to find new mentorship where I can either write/edit stories for an organization, do office work, or ideally socially market a company.