Past Week and Jobs in America

The past week of class in Media Fellows was not totally what I expected. I think the class lacked pertinent information and structure, because I honestly don't remember much about it. I had talked about interactivity with the class in my previous posts, and I didn't feel this was accomplished with the multimedia part of this class. This past week was simply lecture and on that point, I don't think it was effective as I would have liked. My classmates can attest to this. Granted, I did learn a great amount about journalism from Professor Tatge. I think the most I took out of this week's classes was what makes a story? Well, it just can't be interesting because that doesn't always indicate depth and just because one finds a story interesting doesn't make the story interesting in a universal sense. We watched a series of videos that progressively advanced toward a pertinent story, and that was cool. The video about the man alone in his home, though it could have been larger in scope, was a very in-depth presentation. The other side to this debate, is small-story vs. big-story. A good story has both of these components. Any type of story has to have a goal in mind, and that is the biggest thing I've learned from Professor Tatge, always keep digging.

As for my article I read in the N.Y.T., it was entitled Where the Jobs are, the Training Might be Missing. This was a very in depth article. I think its a story you wouldn't find anywhere else because it takes an alternate slant to a very common issue in domestic politics, we need more jobs! The article points out that for the markets in which jobs are needed, the training for them at the post-high school education level is simply not available. Programs such as nursing are being cut. For example, in North Carolina where the latter occupation is needed, schools have had to cut the programs for a lack of subsidies given by the government to fund them. Therefore, schools with nursing programs have to put students on waiting lists, and there is also a waiting list for the waiting list. The problem is deeply rooted in poor economics and a lack of decision making from state governments.

These governments must recognize education as the bread and butter for future successes and job growth. According to the article, "studies show that an educated populace leads to faster economic growth and a more stable democracy." When programs such as computer science and math are cut, other countries such as China and Japan take advantage.

The democrats recognize these problems, and President Obama recently proposed he $8 billion federal stimulus of sorts for community colleges. Getting at the root of the problem will helpful grow our waning job force.

The analysis and progression of this article is fantastic. Realistically, so many stories could have been written from the ideas in this article alone. The synthesis of these ideas into a cohesive piece that ties together is brilliant reporting. The article exemplifies that more aspects of society are interrelated than one may think. The root of the problems in America are not always are simple as they are made out to be.