New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen, a major thinker in our field, often writes about himself, but usually with a serious purpose in mind. So I was delighted to find him writing a personal essay about his youth, and a rather evocative one at that.
One similarity we share: we edited our college newspapers during the same time period, in the late 1970s, he at the Spectrum, at SUNY Buffalo, I at the Northeastern News (now the Huntington News).
Rosen’s story of how he wound up not working for the Buffalo Courier-Express is both amusing and a little sad, conjuring up as it does a newspaper world that no longer exists.
Rosen’s piece is shooting all around the tubes this morning. I found it on David Carr’s Twitter feed.
Discover more from Media Nation
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Terrific article with an almost O. Henry twist.
Could’ve done without the sneering at folks who work at Applebees, though. Plays into the worst stereotypes of the “elites” in media.
How many of us knew what we wanted to do, just out of high school? I flopped around for five years before Speers shoehorned me into Northeastern. Once I hit my first co-op job, I knew, and studying became much easier. Sure, there are things I should have done differently, but I can live with my choices. Now my head’s spinning with the pace of change as I realize what an era we’ve experienced.