End Of An Era

5th grade is the furthest back I can trace my love for journalism. I volunteered to help with my elementary school newspaper. And by newspaper, I mean a few pieces of paper copied on the mimeograph machine. (Wow...I'm getting old!) And by contributing to the newspaper, I mean I drew a picture of a witch and wrote a paragraph about Halloween parties at school.

That's where it all started, I guess.

The next step up was 8th grade journalism class and yearbook. Then on to high school journalism classes, yearbook, and becoming Editor of our award-winning newspaper, thankyouverymuch. And then on to working as a Copy Editor and Columnist for the college newspaper and receiving a Journalism & Mass Communication degree.

I have always asked a lot of questions and loved news. As I graduated form college, I saw the shift slowly move from printed materials to online news. At first, I was convinced it would never really take off. I mean, didn't everyone enjoy opening their newspaper and having ink smudged all over their fingers? It's laughable now.

But there was always my beloved Newsweek. With no ink smudges. For some reason (not left or right), this was my constant. As I got got older and busier, I couldn't keep up with reading the paper every day, and I couldn't always stay awake for the local news. Newsweek was my main source of keeping up with what was going on in the world. We did a have a 3-year break up but later reunited again.

So the end of this era has made me sad. Although I do love the irony in the hashtagged headline.

My rituals and routine of weekly news reading have ended. Yes there is an online version. I have tried it. And I will try to keep from getting a grumpy-things-were-better-back-in-the-day attitude. But it's just not the same.

And it makes me wonder what the next generation of news will look like. Will my kids read anything printed at all? How will they mark the day their kids are born in history without the front page of their local newspaper? What in the world will journalism classes be like in 10 years?

It's all very strange to see something so fundamental as written communication change so drastically.  I'm sure at some point this blog will become outdated and old school.

Wait, I think it already is.  #blogsreplacedbytwitterandfacebook