Author: dannystewart99

I haven’t updated my blog with my first published story yet because I don’t have a published story yet. This is of course, no one’s fault for things don’t happen until they do.

I’ve hit my first speed bump as a journalist though. I’ve had sources gone quiet for a bit and it’s starting to be a gigantic pain in the ass. But there’s nothing I can do except try and be a pain in the ass back without being creepy.

There are a bunch of questions that run through my head as I try to focus on my first story and getting that going while other events and stories go soaring over my head. I feel behind though I’m all on top of my feature idea. I find myself slinking back onto social media and I see other people publishing works while I feel left in the dust.

I don’t see how much more I can do but I’ve got to do something. I guess I just have to re-evaluate myself and try to refresh my outlook on being a journalist. It’s my priority and I should stop feeling like I have a promise held down to one story. I should get going on other works and maybe toss aside my pride behind my first story.

Anyways, the title of this post had social media within it and I did mean to discuss social media and my adapted feeling towards it in the world of journalism.

I’ve recently had my profiles on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and iTunes peer reviewed for the first time by somebody who I’m not friends with and it was actually an eye opening experience. To what I thought was a profile clean up before college, I had made my profiles readily appropriate for basic purposes.

Basic purposes being, not looking  weird to girls who wanted to slide into my DMs. But, now that I’m an official reporter for a news organization, I really have to step up my game.

For instance, all those pages I liked in seventh grade that are inactive on Facebook now can still be seen by the social media hunters that want to see who’s interviewing them. I’ve got to do a total revamp of all my profiles big time if I want to actually be considered for a job somewhere.

Though, my YouTube, Twitter, and iTunes profiles are all sound. I still run my “Nerd News” gaming page on YouTube. My Twitter page is the best form of myself online. Meanwhile, my iTunes page is where you can find “The Creatively Challenged Podcast” which is the podcast my friends and I discuss movie and entertainment news.

There’s a time and a place for everything in real life and in your social media life. Once you become an adult in the working world, it’s time to clean up the profiles. Unless your job depends on you being a wild and spontaneous personality on social media, it’s time to grow up.

So don’t be mad if you don’t get the job you wanted or if somebody doesn’t want to date you because you’ve got videos and likes on your profile that indicate you plow beers like water and want to post about it. Well, it’s still pretty impressive, just leave it off of social media.

Through the emotional rollercoaster that was this post (which mimics my life at the moment), remember, clean up your social media profiles and be professional when you can be. Also, straighten out your priorities and make sure your life is the one you want to be living.

~DS

IT’S HAPPENING! Everybody stay calm! I’m actually working.

Funnily enough, it doesn’t feel so strange to be doing actual pre-reporting work. It’s not anything I haven’t done before. I’ve prepared emails and I’ve researched players and stats; but it doesn’t feel out of the ordinary.

Last week, including the days leading up to today, I was a bit nervous about getting started. From my previous post, you might not think I was that worried to get started, but in all truth, I was.

I was scared to get that first phone call out of the way. I was scared to send an email, to report, and to put my name on it. It seemed a lot more daunting than it should have. But, I have gotten through that barrier and I feel relaxed once again.

But can a journalist ever be relaxed? In certain terms, yes and no. Yes, because it’s ok to be the connection from people to pages and it’s ok to feel nervous about that. But, news never stops; nor does life.

A journalist should not miss an opportunity to report due to lack of care or want. Time must be divided to provide to work for all necessities. But, when you are hungry, you must eat. When you are tired, you must sleep.

Don’t kill yourself over journalism, rather kill the bad habits that threaten yourself and prevent journalism.

A video of a professor teaching his class comes to mind when I talk about juggling stress.

Enjoy this video as much as I did. It taught me a lesson that really hadn’t been taught to me up until this point in my life. It’s ok to be alive. Stuff happens that we can’t control and life can get stressful. Though once we relax, choose our battles, and choose our happiness, life becomes balanced.

I admit, this became a lot more about stress coping over my first feature story. But, I want to spread a lesson I’ve only recently learned to those who might not have or needed a reminder. Limit your stress, don’t limit your life.

Coming soon will be my first featured story as a reporter. Stay tuned and stay calm.

~DS