Now, for what happened during the day:

In the beginning of the day, we all heard two speakers talk about our individual rights as students and how important it is to get an internship and how to act accordingly at that internship.  The first speech, the one about our rights as journalists, I felt didn’t have as much as an impact on me as it may have for some others because I am very privileged when it comes to having an enormous freedom with printing what I want in our school newspaper. My advisor, Mr. Kevin Keegan, has very a hands-off attitude towards us and lets us choose the things we want to write about with very little or no say from him. However, I would say that this speech made me appreciate him and his position a lot more. The second speech had an impact on me as well as it just showed how evidently important it is to find an internship in order to make connections and have relationships with people in the business field that will help you get farther.

In the second half of the day, Sam and I travelled around the Capitol and met a budget assistant for his Senator of Pennsylvania and also met a family friend of his that works under a representative of Texas. This whole experience was a great way to practice networking being able to talk to interns themselves and getting business cards from different media experts in the office was an absolutely beneficial experience.

As this conference is coming to a close, I can’t help but realize all of the lessons I have learned over this week and the friendships I have made that I pray to God continue on.  Thank you Washington Journalism and Media Conference of 2011 for providing one of the best weeks of my life.

First I learned just how important networking and keeping connections is. This business is really not what you know, but WHO you know. And even if the person doesn’t seem that important, they may know one person, who can bring you to another person, who can bring you to another and to another.  Staying connected and maintaining relationships is such a key in this business.

Second I learned how important it is to get an internship in college and know how to work your way up the chain and stick out. I actually made a whole list of things to do once you get an internship. Things like always being on time, dressing appropriately, always taking the initiative and voicing your ideas.

I definitely learned wayyy much more today/tonight but I need to get to bed and get ready for tomorrow’s big day on C-SPAN!

Bye for now folks!

One picture that particularly caught my attention was a photograph of man burning alive, and if that wasn’t painful enough, receiving a major blow to the head by a machete. First off, I wonder how was a human being able to capture this? The pain, the agony, the misery all speaks through itself in this photograph…but to see it in person? How could someone handle such a thing?

To be honest, I really don’t know the answer to this question. I don’t think there really can be an answer. I guess it really just depends on personal boundaries, certain circumstances that you can or cannot handle.

Although I don’t think there really can be a specific answer towards this topic, I would like to point out some points that I’ve heard people talk about over the course of the day.

Remember, we are humans over journalists. If your heart is telling you to do something, do it. Don’t let your job intervene with your morals.

In our later sessions, I noticed a related theme come up when listening to Tom Jackman talking about covering crime stories, in particular dealing with the police.  He talked about how one time he covered a story where a policeman was potentially at blame, and when covering the story, the police department was seen in a negative light. “Should I really cover this story?” He probably thought. By shining the police officer in a negative light, he could potentially be jeopardizing key sources for future stories. What should he do?

I just find this whole conflict with morals and “getting the story” very interesting….in fact, there was a game at the Newseum today that devoted itself entirely on that issue, which I have now realized, is such an important topic in the world of journalism.

First off, as you probably know by now, my name is David Hylton. I go to Blake High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. There, I’m a staff member on The Blake Beat. This past year, my junior year, I held the position of Arts Managing Editor. This upcoming year, I have been chosen to be an Associate Editor for the paper. I am INCREDIBLY excited to be holding this position.

Now for some background history of The Blake Beat. Over the past couple years, Blake’s high school newspaper has earned incredible recognition. We have been named the Nation’s Best High School Newspaper by Time Magazine and also has been named Maryland’s Best High School Newspaper many times as well.

I’m incredibly excited for this opportunity of exploring the journalism field more extensively through this conference!

Well, that’s all for now, folks.  See you all in a few days!

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