I ran into a former Sun-Sentinel colleague at the University of Miami School of Communication yesterday.
"I'm speaking to a class," I explained, then added: "Nothing like a laid-off journalist to inspire students."
It was a travel writing class, about 12 young women and one young man sitting at a long table piled with Subway sandwiches. I told them about my beginnings (not just traveling but living abroad), my work as a travel editor, my current life as a freelancer.
One student asked if I would follow the same path today, if I were their age. I said yes, with the exception that I wouldn't go to Europe; I'd go to Asia or the Middle East. But I'd still go alone, to really immerse myself in the culture. I insisted that, whatever happens to newspapers, a knowledge of the world - and an ability to explain it - are going to become increasingly important as globalization only intensifies. I told them that it was actually a relief to leave a paper that ignored the world, that purposefully narrowed its perspective and that of its readers.
I talked about the realities of freelancing - the difficulty of getting the attention of editors - and they wondered what hope they had if I was struggling. I said they had an advantage in that they were young, in a country that has always idolized youth. And that the new technology, which was a challenge for me, was second nature to them.
At least one young woman looked unconvinced. Everybody talks about multimedia, she said, but I got into this because I love writing.
Alleluia, I thought. So I'm not alone. I told her in that case she should think about writing books. Books, I said, should survive. The reaction that followed seemed to suggest I was right. Students complained about reading online; a few said they often print things out. Someone mentioned Kindle, but not with a lot of love.
It was a very encouraging hour and fifteen minutes, at least for me. But I did close with a hope that they'd read my blog.
