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Insights By: Patricia Ann C. Roque I didn’t know what I was getting into when I enlisted for J117 or Online Journalism for the first semester of school year 2007-2008. All I knew was that this was going to be one of my electives to complete my required 21 units. It was a great surprise for me when I found out that we have to come up with our own websites as the final output for the class. It was an even bigger surprise when I found out that we can’t use page building softwares to create the site. We have to learn how to do it the hard way, through HTML hand-coding. This will be my end, I thought to myself. Our high school barkada has our own website but among all of us, I was the only one who didn’t know how to edit the site through codes. I even feel dizzy everytime I try understanding it. And now I have to create my own website? I’m doomed. But guess what? Through the classes with Professor Danilo Arao, slowly but surely, I actually got through it. No longer do I get a headache whenever I’m dealing with HTML codes, instead I can now play around with it to come up with different things for my site. Besides this new learning, I was also able to challenge my writing skills because it’s different when you are addressing people through the Internet. There are lots more sources of information that can be looked up to supplement the article that you have. The language should also be taken into consideration because the Internet can be accessed by anyone from anywhere in the globe. Online journalism has also opened my eyes to the alternatives. The mainstream media has been bombarding us with information that we hear all over the place, most of the time sensationalized. But sometimes, the things that matter or those of greater importance but are not paid attention to can be found online or on other alternative forms of media. Come to think of it, the two things I’ve mentioned are a fusion of old and new. HTML hand-coding was the old way of creating and editing a website while online journalism is a new form of media surging its way through. However, these two have something in common. Knowledge of hand-coding is very essential in online journalism because there is something happening every minute. Easy updates of online sites can be done through typing a couple of codes and entering data. The two go together really well especially in fast times that need fast results. Both make life easier for us. Getting into radio, TV, or print are the usual targets of fresh graduates for job opportunities. With the emergence of online publications, media practitioners can also venture into this as their profession if they are really passionate about the job. Of course, knowledge of HTML codes will be very useful for them if they really want to pursue it. I guess I already have an advantage in this area. =) | ||
Copyright © 2007 / Patricia Ann C. Roque