Monday, April 27, 2009

The End Has Come

As this semester and my undergraduate experience come to a close, so must Border Smarts.

I hope these weekly posts have allowed you to learn more about the sad state of education in Arizona, and maybe even a little about education (or the lack thereof) on a national level.

This blog has given me the opportunity to explore a subject I care passionately about much more deeply than I would have otherwise. To all future Border Beaters, I think the best advice I could give you is to discover a blog topic that you will not get bored with. One that you will not cringe at the thought of researching even when week 11 rolls around. If there is something you'd like to write about that isn't necessarily border related, try to come at the topic from a border perspective - it can be done.

As a reporter for Border Beat, I have learned much more than I expected to - about border issues, of course, but also about the increasingly important marriage between journalism and multimedia. As a lover of print journalism, being forced to think of news stories not just as blocks of well-written text but as multimedia packages, was often daunting - but always enlightening.

Using slideshow and audio software like Soundslides and Audacity enhanced the reporting on the site, making it a real online publication, and not just a print product available on the web.

If I had to pick the story I'm most proud of from this past semester, it would definitely be the first special project I completed with the help of Alex Garday. Together we created a three-part story about border deaths.

I hope your Border Beat experience allows you to delve into topics you haven't yet, and gives you a chance to become a reporter that can do much more than write.

Best of luck!

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