Last week I debated with a peer about Twitter’s benefits. He claimed that twitter desensitized us from gathering information. Not so fast.

It began when I defended Twitter as being a great outlet for “insta-news” to which he argued creates people with limited attention spans.

He also stated “insta-news” through Twitter: “inundates people with mindless tidbits that are easily susceptible to mistakes and fallacies.”

He claimed when people analyze tidbits they don’t process the information correctly. Apparently, this removes the logic and thought process.

First, it must be said, whole news articles are not transcribed via Twitter. They are merely links to factual, authentic news articles.

Just because the technique to gather information is changed, does not mean that the efficiency or value of information gained is less.

Why is reducing statements to 140 characters cheap? The cat is blue vs. the feline is of an aqua hue = same difference - fussy syntax.

Not to say that words aren’t beautiful and wonderful to arrange, but the same meaning can be achieved in times of brevity and urgency.

Twitter is a great tool for synthesizing information until it states clearly what matters. It helps with active verbs and gaining voice.

Twitter helps you stay connected to trends, people and events you are passionate about with an easy, proactive outlet for you to stay tuned.

It’s ideal for instant-publishing, where you can share your thoughts, innovations and feelings with your community. Community is important.

Twitter knocks down walls between you and officials, celebrities and establishments. Promoting more transparency so the people feel involved.

Twitter gives you a lot of control.

Twitter offers customizable content, which is very similar to future models in journalism. Even now, people crave options.

My peer also argued that being “always connected” is exhausting. My answer: get over it. Don’t check twitter when you don’t want to.

Note:(just for laughs) This whole debate took place over Facebook on my friend’s status update. So in a sense, we had a Twitter fight on FB.

In conclusion, Twitter offers benefits to an intelligent, driven and connected (oh-no to being informed)

Yeah. I went there.

On to print. Another thing worth discussing. There is a lot of fear that most print newspapers are going down the drain. Literally speaking, it’s quite accurate. Newspapers are drowning in their own drool right now. According to The Nieman Journalism Lab , most of the large Newspaper owners are filing bankt or close it.

But that doesn’t mean they are going to die.

No matter what there is still a huge need for news, or information, as we should all refer to it. Especially now in the internet age, people crave and have access to large quantities of free information. Why don’t we think they will still go to the same establishments to retrieve it? Just because there are a lot more places to go, doesn’t mean the originals will cease. It just means they must up their game in how they inform us.

When you ask people about what newspapers they know about, I guarantee you they’ll spit out something like, New York Times or Newsweek. We are used to these places and we like them. We don’t want them to go away.

The way we access and analyze information is changing. We can see this with the rise of such user-centered sites such as youtube and social networking sites such as facebook. Since the rise of these sites, people have been trained to be in control of what they publish, what they receive and how they “publish themselves”.

That’s a rather general example, but it does fit. So instead of saying that print is dying - it is much more fitting to say that it is morphing - evolving - if you will.

Furthermore, instead of panicking, everyone (especially newsies) should take this time to study what is going on around them and get with it. Fix it. Cultivate it. Save it, if you feel that phrase appropriate. Stop the crying about not getting the Times delivered to your door and about how bloggers and tweeters will never replace good, thorough journalism.

Thankfully, students are taking advantage of the situation. There has been a huge boom in j-schools around the country. Why? Because a lot of kids already get it.

It’s the time to act.

The way we inform the masses is changing, the way we gain information is changing, so let’s change with it and make it as plentiful as possible. Start a conversation, subscribe to a blog, get involved.

As a short intro, my name is Jessica Pacheco. I’m a 22 year-old journalism major at the University of Nevada, Reno. When I am not in school, I am working for Insight Magazine as the senior and web editor. I also enjoy Japanese and Chinese culture and music.

This blog ( or any of my other blogs) , in short, is not a solution to the problem currently facing journalism, but the start of a conversation about how we can better it. How we can accommodate for changing times.

A couple key points before you read on:
1. There are no simple answers.
2. Patience and innovation go hand in hand (so does bravery).
3. Mediocrity is not allowed.

I will not post boring stats about who is going under on this particular post. Though those numbers are depressing and important, I urge you to type ‘newspaper’ into google and see what you find. You’ll see a lot of key words/phrases like ‘bankruptcy’ ‘going under’ ‘not enough’ ‘transition’

The point is that we already know that times are dark.

I wanted to share an article written in 2008, by a man who started his day as a reporter and ended it as an independent Journalist. It fits perfectly for what we will talk about in this blog. Change. Not only is it scary to some, it is also imminent to all of us. The face of journalism is constantly changing and we need to change with it.

Since the uprise of the internet, reporters and newsies around the globe have seen the change coming. The problem is that what you can get in the morning on your doorstep is stale by the time you get it. The nytimes you get in your inbox is updated constantly. We live in a thriving environment where this constant feed is necessary. The Annual Report on American Journalism for 2009 found that basically people want news all the time and not just at appointed times:

The data also suggest a clear trend in the changing nature of how Americans now learn about the world around them. People are relying more heavily — both during peak moments and in general — on platforms that can deliver news when audiences want it rather than at appointed times, a sign of a growing “on demand” news culture. People increasingly want the news they want when they want it.