A Helping Hand: Mentorship?

I have been try to figure out how I would write this post for days and could not come up with anything that is cleaver or witty, so I'm just going to get to the point.

I want a mentor.

I had one. It didn't work out well. The mentor was assigned to me via a program and I don't think we were very compatible. Also, being a first time mentee, I made some mistakes. Everything seemed so forced and I was barely going through the motions to maintain the relationship. I have learned from that experience and I am ready to establish a mentorship that is beneficial to myself as well as my mentor. I want to connect with someone that will give me guidance that could help me navigate the media industry. I don't want a mentor just to have an extra person in my contact book. I want to build something genuine. This blog post is my way of reaching out. If anyone sees this and is interested in mentoring me, I would love to hear from you.

I'll Never Tell: NABJ Elections 2011

For weeks, I have pondered over whether or not I would publicly endorse any of the NABJ candidates. I knew I wanted to do posts related to the candidates, but something about publicly endorsing anyone didn't sit right with me. It still doesn't. So, as of right now, I will not publicly endorse anyone on this blog or on any other outlet. There are people that are still trying to get their campaigns started while there are others that have been on the campaign trail for a while. I want to give everyone an equal chance. With that being said, I have a proposition for  any NABJ candidate that is reading this blog. I want to do a feature on you. I want to do this one of two ways:

1) A Regular Feature
This would consist of a regular feature with a few interview questions that would address the concerns of NABJ student members as well as NABJ members as a whole.

2) An E-debate
This would consist of 2 profiles in one post. I would as you and your opponent(s) the same questions and post all of the information in one blog post so readers could compare, contrasted and make an informed decision.

If you are interested in either of these ideas, please leave a comment or email me at aatwell3@student.gsu.edu.

A few updates!

My hotel dilemma has been solved!

A member offered to share a room and cut out a major cost for me. I'm not going to name her because I don't know if she wants it publicized. Nonetheless, I am very grateful. All I have to worry about airfare and a few miscellaneous expenses.

Also, my NABJ chapter, the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists, is hosting a candidate forum on May 14th at 11:30! If you are in the Atlanta area, please attend. I will be covering it for the blog and I would love to meet new people! The location has not been announced but I will post it as soon as it is publicized!

P.S. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/AshJournaliste!

Shameless Self Promotion: Let’s change the state of college media

Here's an excerpt of an article I wrote for The Signal this week. To see the whole article, click here!

Recently, I tweeted "Something tells me I need to start learning HTML and coding." I figured those skills, among others, are important because I am a journalism student and I know the industry is changing. Evidently, I am in the minority.

About a month ago, journalist Lauren Rabiano wrote a blog post in which she ranted about the state of college media. Rabiano had been the online editor for her alma mater's newspaper and she was able to reunite with the paper's manager at a convention, who told her the posi­tion had not been filled since she left.

It gets worse. "At least five different people at the conference (usually the lone web champion or the point-of-desperation advi­sor) told me that they just can't get students motivated about the web," Rabiano said.

I find that deplorable, but, sadly, I see that type of apathy in many media students. There are probably hundreds of journalism students on campus, yet, when I have asked students if they are involved in student media, I usually get a blank stare. I usually get the same reaction if I ask someone if they are involved in professional organizations like the Atlanta Press Club or the National Association of Black Journalists.

Have a great week!

Hotel? Motel? No tell?

The Marriott

Since I've been planning this trip, I have been undecided about whether or not I will be staying at the Marriott, the hotel hosting the convention. The location is ideal since the hotel is attached to the convention center but that price is horrifying. It would cost me about $800 to stay at the Marriott for the duration of the trip.

I would try to stay further away from the city but I'm not a driver and combined with my horrible sense of direction, I don't think that would be a very good idea. So, I've been looking around the city at other hotels. A few of them are $100-200 dollars cheaper but lodging is still my biggest expense. I'll keep looking and make my decision soon.

What do you think? Do you have any suggestions?

Update on the Travel Buddy Situation...

It's a little...slow.

I've gotten a couple of "maybes" and "might be able tos" but nothing concrete. It's a little disheartening but I'm not giving up. Preferably, I would like to room with a member of NABJ as opposed to a family member or friend. I love my family and friends, but I don't want to make them sit in a hotel room while I'm gone all day. I would want them to be able to enjoy themselves. I think that might be another reason I haven't gotten that many responses. That's too much money to spend wandering around a city. My hope is that I find someone that will room with me. They don't necessarily have to travel to Philadelphia with me but rooming together would save a lot of money.

What do you think?

POLL: Where should the 2012 NABJ Convention Be Held?

Leave your answer in the comments section!

NABJ Withdraws From UNITY

(PHILADELPHIA, PA) April 10, 2011- After careful consideration and thoughtful deliberation, the National Association of Black Journalists, Inc. (NABJ), a founding organization of UNITY: Journalists of Color Inc., voted today to discontinue its participation in UNITY. While NABJ remains committed to the coalition's mission of achieving parity in newsroom employment and accurate coverage of people of color, NABJ board members concluded that as a business model, UNITY no longer is the most financially prudent for NABJ and its membership. NABJ, with the support of members of the Founders' Task Force and Council of Presidents, will withdraw from UNITY and its 2012 convention. NABJ will hold its own convention in 2012. As the largest organization of journalists of color, NABJ remains vigilantly committed to the common ideals for which UNITY was founded, and further, remains allied with each UNITY partner in its individual mission of achieving these goals.  ###

I find this to be very disheartening news. I was looking forwards to attending a UNITY conference but I doubt NABJ would make a decision this huge without strong consideration. I'm sure our 2012 conference will go on without a hitch and you'll probably see me hustling for that one as well! I hope this decision doesn't create any hard feelings between NABJ and the UNITY organizations. Journalists of color need to stick together, especially in light of statistics being released stating journalists of color are essentially disappearing from newsrooms.