The Hungry Journalist

Though I wasn’t sure if I would, I really enjoyed the UT commencement process – except of course for the nearly 1,000 names I had to listen to before crossing the stage.

But I particularly liked the keynote speech, given by Houston Chronicle president and publisher John Sweeney. He was charismatic and genuinely funny. Now, I know a commencement speaker (this was communication students only) is supposed to be upbeat, but he painted a very rosy picture of where the newspaper industry is headed.

I wasn’t taking notes, obviously, but he basically said that the newspaper industry was all but dead until a few months ago. But now it’s picking back up and thriving. I don’t buy that just yet.

To illustrate his point about the evolution and growth of journalism, Sweeney brought out a “kit” with the tools his paper’s staff needs every day. They included a camera and other basic technologies I already own */wipes forehead/* so that made me feel a little better about myself. Sweeney’s examples of modernized journalists included his own John McClain (who I’ve met with a few times and really like) who puts out great videos on his NFL beat.

Sweeney also addressed bloggers and whether or not they are journalists. He quoted the answer Norman Chad gave in his column the other day. Sweeney also said that, though blogging and community discussions were necessary, professional journalism was even more necessary. A valid point, though I think a professional journalist can take the form of a blogger.

I really enjoyed hearing Sweeney speak. In the interest of full disclosure, though, I’m going to end this post with this fact: The Houston Chronicle recently stopped shipping copies of its paper to Austin because the company couldn’t afford to pay the gas prices.

Sweeney didn’t let us in on that fact during his speech, either.