Two weeks ago, I put out a call for questions people might have about the blog. The responses were interesting to say the least, and they’ve given me an opportunity to give readers a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes action of blogging for SMP. Here’s a small compilation of the best questions I’ve been asked along with the most honest answers I can give.
Do you ever sleep? You post at awkward hours.
School plays a tremendous factor in what time I get to experience this luxury you call “sleep”. At the end of the day, I do sleep but not as much as I should. This isn’t a consequence of the blog though. Typically, I’ll already be up studying or finalizing an assignment and if I choose to take a break, I’ll scrap together an article or publish one that has already been prepared.
How did you become a journalist?
Some of you might not know this but I’m not a journalist. In fact, I’ve never formally studied journalism. My university doesn’t offer the major and, in case you’re interested, none of my op-ed submissions have ever seen success. But even if a journalism degree was an option for me, I’d probably avoid it unless I intended to become a reporter. As much as I love the field, it doesn’t seem to have yet made the full transition from traditional print journalism to today’s cyber journalism and that, to me, is a bit off-putting. Regardless, I’m into blood vessels and whatnot so I’m taking the pre-med route.
How do you balance school and blogging?
It can be done. I’m not a powerhouse blogger so publishing three or four things per week is acceptable by my standards. Although the posts do take time, I try to strategize when exactly I get to work on them. You might notice lulls in the blog’s activity and those are almost always because I’m studying for exams. School takes precedence, but if school is out and the guys are playing Xbox like thirteen year olds, I get to work on a new post. [Read more...]
To Israel, one man’s journalist is another man’s terrorist
Guest contribution by Deanna Othman
As Palestinians prepare to mark the 65th anniversary of al-Nakba on May 15, the date that symbolizes the beginning of the methodical dispossession and oppression of Palestinians, they have been greeted with a slap in the face by Washington, DC’s Newseum in another attempt to delegitimize and stifle their struggle.
The Newseum, which features exhibits both on news history and contemporary media technology, announced the names of 82 journalists who died covering the news in 2012, and added them to the Newseum’s Journalists Memorial in a ceremony held May 13 in the Journalists Memorial Gallery. Among the honored were Marie Colvin and Anthony Shadid, who both died in Syria.
Absent from the list of 82 journalists were an additional two names originally slated to be included — Hussam Salama and Mahmoud Al-Kumi, who were doing camera work for Al-Aqsa TV when they were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza in November 2012.
The Newseum announced Monday that the museum will “re-evaluate their inclusion as journalists on our memorial wall pending further investigation.”
Although many held out the hope that the Newseum would stand by its decision, it is a grave disappointment, but not a complete surprise, that yet another institution that purports to celebrate diversity of voices has caved under Zionist pressure. [Read more...]