Obama: Hip-hop hooray.

I’m a HUGE fan of The Washington Post.  Maybe it’s because I grew up with it, maybe it’s because of their great reporting and writing, maybe it’s because I got to take a really cool tour of the printing plant in second grade.  Or maybe it’s because of this story by J. Freedom Du Lac – who I just discovered, after years of reading, is a man. Hmm.

The WaPo gave J. Freedom Du Lac – who is an excellent writer, by the way – the freedom and latitude to write a highly-entertaining, though short, piece about Barack Obama and hip-hop. It wasn’t exactly an essay; it was more of a commentary, a brief look at a story that is getting a lot of press but maybe isn’t as big of a deal as other things in Campaign 2008. The Style section of the WaPo is so good at taking front-page newsy items and twisting them around to make for interesting explorations of culture.

I was particularly intrigued by this article because:
A) I’m a fan of hip-hop and know of the effect Obama’s popularity and candidacy is having on artists and the community at large.
B) I heard about Ludacris’s profane Obama shout-out song, “Politics” and got curious about how the candidate would respond/spin his way out of it without alienating rappers and their fans. Or denigrating his right to freedom of speech.

Now, listening to the song – I must admit, I’ve heard worse. Hillary as an irrelevant bee-yotch, McCain only good for a wheelchair, Bush as mentally handicapped. Not flattering but…not as poisonous as we may have been led to think. But in any case, Obama’s response to the whole situation was pretty artful. He didn’t alienate hip-hop heads because he acknowledged Ludacris’ skills; he didn’t alienate non hip-hoppers because he condemned the lyrics. Dislike the message, not the man? How very…centrist…of our friend Mr. Obama.

Watch out for this guy people. He’s clever.

All jokes aside, J. Freedom Du Lac’s piece helped get my morning started right and reaffirmed again my devotion to The Washington Post.

My, it’s nice to see you again.

It’s been far too long since my last post.  I blame that on the following:
• the arrival of real, actual work to complete at TIME
• the continued search for post-graduate, post-internship employment
• general fatigue and disbelief that my summer is almost over
• lamenting about my lack of job and wishing I was headed back to school for the victory lap that is a fifth year

All jokes aside, I recently decided to put the link to this blog on Wired Journalists, so that means I need to keep this up. So I am.

UNITY 2008
First things first, I figure it was career suicide not to have been at the UNITY Conference this past week in Chicago, particularly as TIME was a co-sponsor and I’m a member of NABJ. I really enjoyed looking at all the student work, though – particularly photos from my friend L. Kasimu Harris. The convention news Web site is here.

JUDGING A BOOK BY ITS COVER?
On the work front, I sat in on an interesting discussion Monday about weekly newsmags and how newsy they should – or could – be. Newsweek and TIME have gotten some criticism lately about their covers, from both those on the outside and within their own ranks. For example, instead of last week’s Olympics-related covers, shouldn’t Obama have been on the front for his trip overseas? Wasn’t that the newsier item, and thus, the best to lead of the issue?

As I listened to all this talk, I thought about something TIME Managing Editor Richard Stengel said to us at Ole Miss last year during our Journalism Week keynote. Don’t quote him on this, but Mr. Stengel (or Rick, as he is to the millions of TIME readers), said basically that TIME’s responsibility wasn’t to be a news aggregate. It needed to go deeper than the stories newspapers and bloggers cover everyday, because readers expect more than what they’ve already seen and heard. My college paper did a good story on his talk here. In case you’re interested.

Anyway, it seems that if a newsmagazine is basically National Newspaper 10.0, it wouldn’t be in fitting Mr. Stengel’s vision to feature a photo or topic on the front of the magazine that had already been dissected by NYT, WaPo, whatever. Thus, Olympic coverage was a smart choice for the front, as was putting Obama-related things, like this article by Karen Tumulty inside.

I love that at TIME, everything is a discussion, you know? Sure, Mr. Stengel has the final say, but everything about the magazine is up for criticism and review daily, by lowly interns like myself and those much higher on the food chain. Not to get too corny, but the magazine is constantly trying to improve itself, issue by issue. People are willing to argue over something like a cover line because they are genuinely invested in the magazine’s success and relevance to readers. I love it.

INDUSTRY NEWS
And finally, Editor and Publisher had an article today where it recognized the last 6 of 10 newspapers nationwide that are Doing it Right.

I find it so refreshing that smaller, lesser known papers that are experimenting with new things are getting some major recognition. I’ve always believed that one of the best ways to judge a paper’s value was not just in its circulation or reputation, but also in its creativity and community impact. When you look at that, a lot of small newspapers are doing big things.

That’s all for now.

Allow me to introduce myself.

I was in Fairfax, Va. last week at Robinson Secondary School when Barack Obama held a quaint, little town hall meeting of about 2,200 people during a campaign stop.  Armed with my press badge from my current internship, I had a clear view of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee as he worked the stage, pointing to various people and giving them an opportunity to ask questions.

About four questions in, Obama whirled around to face the excited, smiley-faced supporters behind him and called on a young woman who said she was a teacher who had brought her students from a summer writing camp to hear his speech.  Rather than ask about his plan for education, healthcare, or help for working women (which he was there to tout), this woman instead said something like this: “How did you become a better writer and how has writing helped you in your career?”

I was all business – being a lovely little intern with a press badge, after all – but I perked up considerably in expectation of his answer.  See, my passion is really for writing.  I just got my B.A. in Journalism from the University of Mississippi.  I lived and breathed our college daily – editors tend to do that – and snagged internships at newspapers and magazines, where I revel in the opportunity to write and see my byline in print or on the Web.  I wrote a 75-page thesis on the future of newspapers.  And now, I’m trying to make journalism-reporting-writing my career.

Obama paused for a moment, probably a little amused and surprised by the out-of-the-norm question.  His answer, predictably, was brilliant.  He got good at writing by being an avid reader and by journaling during his early adult years.  Being good at writing  has helped him pen two successful books, draft laws and communicate with people of all different backgrounds and walks of life.

So if we follow the Obama example – which I, as a young, black, female am frequently urged by friends, family and colleagues to do – I need to read like a maniac and make friends with a journal.  The reading part will be fairly easy, but the journaling will take work, discipline really.  So this blog is my attempt at journaling.  And what better thing to journal than my struggles, news and views on trying to make it in the world as a journalist?

My goal is to write as often as possible about all things media-related – and wherever possible, put my own personal recollections and Marti-related spin on things.  I’ll keep the gossipy, unprofessional, Washingtonienne-style content off the blog, but I’m 21 so things are bound to get a little spicy every now and then.  And at the end of this process, I will hopefully have learned more about the inner-workings of my own mind and the media world, made a few journalism-loving friends, polished my AP style and gotten a job in the field.

Let’s get to work.