Bettering Myself: Robert McChesney

When I started this blog, I had grand visions of a forum where young women could explore, learn and start to re-define marriage and domestic life in a way that was no longer oppressive, but would actually give them power and make them more informed citizens of the world. Unfortunately, I lost the plot fairly quickly and am only recently able to really push through the fancy cakes and frou-frou dinners to the core of what it is to be wife, woman, human.

It’s taking time, but I see glimpses of it here and there, and the reading list I’m working with has done wonders. One way I’m combating the post-graduation onset of laziness and brain atrophy (and get it ready for the GRE course) is by attending lectures and talks. The first of these talks was last night, when B and I went to hear Robert McChesney speak on the state of American journalism.

Robert McChesney, February 6, 2011, Austin, Texas

As a former journalism student, I’d heard a lot of it before: “blogs aren’t journalism,” “the internet isn’t going to save journalism,” “Twitter isn’t a legitimate news source,” but for the first time ever, I heard a real, compelling argument for what should be done to keep journalism alive and kicking in this country. McChesney said the only way to save journalism, and keep the citizens of a democratic society informed, is to have the government subsidize independent news sources. According to a Pew study, only 14 percent of the news stories that get published today are from actual reporting, the other 86 percent is taken directly from press releases. (I don’t know about you, but that scares the crap out of me!)

It was fun to get my brain muscles working again, to have something to chew over mentally as I went to sleep last night, and even today (when I could find a spare moment!) It also got me excited about writing again the way I was excited when I first got accepted into the J-school, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and looking to make women’s lives better with my journalistic skillz.

My article about abusive jobs is coming out this week, and I’m super pumped. It’s been years since I had something published in a legitimate paper, let alone one with a circulation of 16,000. I’m very excited about seeing my name in print again, and am grateful to my editor for seeing the importance in the blog post I wrote originally. I’d like to think of it as the first of many contributions for the betterment and education of society. (And, also, I get to say I’ve been published — woot!) :)

What gets you all fired up?