A friend (I won’t name him, but he’s a reporter and substitute anchor for bTV Bulgarian Television) wrote once in this blog: “I am convinced that some of the best articles will appear in this blog couple of months after the end of the program”.
A friend (I won’t name him, but he’s a reporter and substitute anchor for bTV Bulgarian Television) wrote once in this blog: “I am convinced that some of the best articles will appear in this blog couple of months after the end of the program”.
I am sure this article will be far from being one of the best, and the last post from the same author of that sentence was the memorable ’50 shades of Texas’ – 🙂 , so I am not even sure he can be trusted, but here I am, one month or so after finishing the program, writing my last post in the blog.
We were invited to see America, to experience it from the New York Metro to almost every Subway, from Fenway Park to Millenium Park and from “Do you have your ID?” to “Hey, that was a STOP sign”. We also were invited to see real American journalists and real American Newsrooms. We saw signs of an undeniable and seemingly unstoppable transformation. To the already familiar names of The New York Times and The Boston Globe we added the promising enterprises of Politico and The Texas Tribune. We glimpsed the future.
Finally, we were invited to see American Politics in action, and boy did we see that. With all its flaws and traps, in the political process we saw a country capable of deciding its future and a model that stood over a lot of criticism to show both a victorious –and let’s face it, relieved- side and a defeated one, not necessarily happy, but respectful of the decision.
Above all, we saw journalism. Under many surnames and wearing different clothes, but journalism nevertheless. Sometimes loud, like a Jhon Ullman’s class, and sometimes quiet, as The Washintong Post newsroom. We saw a journalism aware of its role exposing corruption, explaining core issues and informing citizens. Far from perfect, yes, but very much alive, and evolving.
I haven’t finished my internal debate about the business model of ‘subsidized media’ or ‘non-profit news organization’, but I think of that –I mean, the fact that I’m still debating it- as a good thing. I have a ton of ideas I intend to apply to my classes at the university and to my job at EL TIEMPO. I am tired as hell, but I feel I’m reloaded, I feel somehow transformed after I came back.
Except, in many ways, I am NOT back. The weather forecast widget in my laptop is still set for Minneapolis, so at any given time I can see cold (minus 3 cold) days and cloudy skies. It’s just a sign of how often I remember and long for all of my friends, both American and Miscellaneous. Yes, we will always have Skype and Facebook and whatever, but I really miss the UNO games, and the short flights and the long nights. I really, really miss you all.
So, once again, thank you WPI, and thank you, my fellow fellows. You’re the reason I feel so sad sometimes, but most often you’re the reason I smile.