Page One: Inside The New York Times

Last week the first year Creative Communications students went to see a documentary called Page One: Inside the New York Times.  The film was an incredible insight into what life as a journalist is like.  The pressures of deadlines, finding the right stories, how to ethically present those stories, staying on top of social media and how important our daily papers are.  These are just a few issues that Page One touches on in 88 minutes. 


I really want to go see this film again since I think there's so much more that can be picked up on.  I don't think we give journalists enough appreciation for what they do for us.  In the movie the point was made that after the Internet, people started to believe that the news was free.  Yes, it's true, most didn't need to buy papers anymore since it was all accessible online in a way never thought possible before.  But in reality it is not.  The money to cover these stories is important, because transportation, wages for our journalists and so many other things need to be taken into consideration in order to figure out if news it really free or not.  Page One does an excellent job of making the audience think about these issues and why a Paywall makes sense for newspapers to use.

It will be interesting to see if other papers, even our own Winnipeg Free Press or Winnipeg Sun, use these formats in the future.  These groups, just like most others, will probably wait to see how it works out for the New York Times first, in order to determine if it's a good move or not.

You've got to respect the guts of the Times to try a move like that.  But then again, that's what they're known for.

Welcome to Slammers and Pogs

I am Kyle Jahns.  Born on June 12th of 1990.  Ever since I was put on this Earth I have known no time period better than the 90's.  After all, this was where I spent the first 10 years of my life.  I made friends in that era.  I learned to walk, talk, speak and even poop in the toilet in that era.  It was in the 90's where I (like some others reading this blog I presume) developed their voice, their innocence, their pride and so many other things that have been essential to who we are today.  I feel that it's important (for myself anyway) to keep these thoughts and reminders of my childhood alive.

On this blog I am going to discuss many different aspects that I can remember from my childhood, as well as many others.  Music, movies, TV, toys and many other aspects of pop culture will be discussed too!

I hope that this blog will allow you to look back and think about the 90's.  I hope you will be reminded of some things that might have slipped your mind over the past years and bring you back to some moment of time that was distinct and awesome.  It doesn't matter if it was the first time you slammed a pile of pogs, or even if you were one of the lucky people to receive (or even purchase) a Tickle-Me-Elmo doll from/for a loved one.  If it's awesome in your mind, it's awesome in mine.

Until next time! (That's when we're going to get to the good stuff!)

BLOG UNVEILING

Hey everyone!


I've finally decided what my blog is going to be about.  Unfortunately it will have to wait until next week because I don't have any Internet connection at the moment.

Note to self:  Call MTS about Internet.

Anyway,  I'm really excited about the topic and I think you will be too.  Keep in touch and you will know early next week!

Have an awesome weekend, everyone!

Twitterville

This week's blog post is part of an assignment for Creative Communications.  Please note that every now and then I will sometimes be posting blogs about things that have happened in class.

When I looked at my Twitter account this past week I was really surprised.  I've had my account open since August 1, 2009.  That's quite a long time.  However, I only have 161 tweets at the moment.  I created my profile and let it sit around for a bit.  It wasn't until I had two friends who started tweeting like crazy that I finally got into it.  One is a second year CreComm student and the other is a social networking junkie.  They had their iPhones and Blackberries so it was pretty easy for them to keep the updates coming.  I only had (and still have) an old phone that isn't so smart.  I now have an iPod Touch which is great when I'm around the school though.  It's helped me keep in touch with everything in the news and my fellow classmates.

I love how Twitter really helps you feel like part of a community that I like to call "Twitterville."  I've never felt so connected to friends and classmates and I'm also up to date on everything I need to know.  For example, did you know that individual Winnipeg Jets tickets are only available to those who win them in a lottery?  Thanks to Twitter I found that out right away.

Most people who haven't tried Twitter don't like it because of the reputation that it has earned from a small percentage of users.  They believe that Twitter is all about people updating what's going on in their daily lives.  I agree, I wouldn't want to hear about someone eating a sandwich and how good it tasted, or if someone got their hair cut.


However, when Twitter is used in a professional matter it's a great tool to stay informed and connect with other people.  With a simple reTweet, your post will not only go to your followers, but the followers of the person who has reTweeted.  Isn't that powerful?  It's so easy to get your message out to the masses and so many new opportunities can come about when you just simply pursue them.  Twitter will only help each and ever CreComm student in their professional career.

I can't wait to see what it does for me.

Fifth Time's the Charm?

Hello everyone, my name is Kyle Jahns!  Let me give you a brief little intro so you know who I am and what you can expect from this blog.

I am a first year CreComm student and much like everyone else, freaked out but super excited to be in this program.  I already know that I'm perfect for the program.  Why?  Just the other day in Journalism class while doing personality profiles I was freaking out because with three minutes left before the deadline I couldn't find a stapler to bind my two pages together.  Thankfully Joanne Kelly was understanding and realized that there were many of us in that position and let it slide.  I now carry a stapler with me at all times and I can tell we're going to be great friends.  A friendly second-year (shout out John Gaudes) told me on Twitter that staplers can be found in W302.  Keep that in mind all of you first years.

I've blogged on and off since I was about 16 years old and it's been something that I've always enjoyed doing.  For some reason my interested waned off and all of these blogs have gone onto a better place.  I'm sure to visit the graveyard every now and then to pay my respects to their lives, but nevertheless I need to move on.

This will be my fifth blog (that I can recall).  There's the chance that some blogs have been supressed because they were started when I was 16 and were simply nothing more than a public diary for everyone to read.  How horrendous is that?  Needless to say, I will not be sharing any of the links of these former blogs since I'm trying to erase them from the pits of the Interweb.  But as Melanie Lee Lockhart has been stressing to our class, once you hit the Enter key, it's pretty much there forever.

Blogging is an excellent thing.  Two years ago I had written a post on my blog about Curve 94.3's morning show with Sarah and Jay.  I had given them some criticism and stated my displeasure about listening to some segments of their show.  Now, I'd like to state that I have great respect for what they do in their careers.  Jay Richardson has gone onto some great things and is even a DJ with Sports 1290 which I think is a perfect fit for him.

They had found my post online and started a "Convert Kyle" initiative on their show.  Little to my knowledge, they had been talking about me on the air and how they'd love for me to come into the studio and talk with them on air for a while.  I graciously accepted and had an amazing time in the studio with them.  This was my first chance to experience radio and I absolutely loved it!

So Sarah and Jay, if you happen to be reading this, I'd love to thank you for that opportunity because it has given me a good idea of what I'd love to do after graduating from CreComm.  And hey Jay, if you ever need a helping hand this year, just let me know!

I don't know what my focus of the blog will be this year.  But after I get a feel for this again I'll be sure to centre my attention on it.

I'm looking forward to comments and getting to know each and every one of you as well.  After all, that is the best part about having a blog.