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 Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 3:44 am
This was amazing!
How had she gotten so lucky? It had only been...what, her third day at DCU? And look at the connections she'd already made! Naomi would be lying to herself if she said she'd been looking forwards to entering the education system - whilst the Classical Literature course itself had seemed amazing and interesting and everything she could ever want, she wasn't sure she was...well, smart enough. The blonde couldn't remember her schooling, and as such was somewhat nervous about recalling anything she'd been previously taught. But so far, so good. Her first few lectures had gone well, and convinced her that the course was definitely for her, and she'd even signed up to a few societies!
Journalism had always been at the back of Naomi's mind as an eventual goal, so the open talk on the career had also piqued her interest. Never in her wildest dreams had she ever imagined an actual newspaper reporter being there, though! She'd seemed so nice and friendly too, and a quick chat after class had lead to coffee invitations...
Naomi had made sure to arrive on time, so much so that she'd actually been there ten minutes early. Some may say keen, she professed organised. Not wanting to start without her (hopefully!) new friend, she'd waited outside, leaning against the shop window as she scanned the street, barely able to contain her excitement.
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Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 1:20 pm
Gently almost forgot what it was like to hang out with people while not carrying a large and dangerous spear with her. She spent most of her time powered up now, and it was nice, actually nice, to power down to do more than go to work and sleep.
If she wasn't out patrolling.
She also really liked coffee, more than she had before, and was looking forward to the pleasant little outing. Taking that request to speak at the school (because no one else at the paper wanted to do it) had actually turned out well for her. She got to talk and remind herself of things she loved, and she got to see all these bright eyed and bushy tailed students with their heads in the clouds and their dreams ahead of them.
She was still like them, she just needed to be reminded.
"Hello!"
She came in on time, though her theatre training always told her to arrive early. She wanted to look professional, not too eager, but still friendly and open. This was a lot of thought for a coffee social with a student that had been particularly excited by her talk!
"You know, I think we'd get better service if we went inside," she said with a jovial smile.
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Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 6:29 am
She saw Gently approaching from further down the road, and stood herself straight. Brushing down her skirt and tucking a wayward blonde bang from her face, Naomi smiled brightly at the dark-haired woman. "Hello!" Oh god, should she be extending a hand to shake, or going for a hug, or...? She hadn't thought this far through, too excited by the mere idea of talking to a journalist, and so instead found herself standing a little awkwardly with a wide smile on her face.
"Oh, of course! I didn't want to start without you!" She pushed the door open and made her way through, holding it for Gently on the other side before allowing it to swing closed. "After you!" She gestured for Gently to order first, glancing over the menu behind the bar and debating what she fancied. Gingerbread Latte, or Hazelnut, or just a Mocha? There were so many choices for coffee nowadays that it was easy to get carried away. "How are you?" Naomi began, hoping to strike up a friendly conversation, "Did you have to go back to work after the talk?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2012 2:01 am
Gently smiled at the enthusiastic student, nodding her head in greeting. She was usually a very personable type, so she would not have objected to a hug or a handshake, and didn't push for either.
Meeting people was always strange and cumbersome. Unless one knew the person they were meeting was meant to be an enemy or a target, and then things were decidedly more simple.
But Gently was not even considering draining the girl dry of energy at the moment, her mind nicely settled into civilian mode and work a pleasant distance off. It was like a day off, though she never really considered herself off duty. She just understood that it was important to maintain a civilian life, and sometimes it was just nice to have friends and acquaintances that had nothing to do with the Negaverse.
As far as she knew, at least.
She entered the shop and thanked Naomi for holding the door,and for letting her order. She ordered a very simple coffee, not one for all the bells and whistles. Or at least, not one to order it: if someone handed her a cup full of delicious, ridiculously expensive coffee ordered in that mystic coffee lingo she would have no complaints.
"I am free for the afternoon! I wanted to hang out and let you ask me whatever questions you wanted. It's not every day that someone is as interested in the field as you are. Mostly because it's dying, some say, but I just think it's changing. And change isn't terrible. Oh, ah," she hummed, her English accent light, but still ever present despite her time in Destiny City, "I do sometimes babble so feel free to kick me under the table if I do."
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Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 7:33 am
Gently ordered a plain coffee, which surprised Naomi. Being a journalist, she'd have thought a coffee shop such as this would have been a prime meeting ground with informants or colleagues. You were always on the go, and you grabbed anything you could - perhaps a black coffee was just the easiest thing to order. Or perhaps she'd had enough of all the fancypants varieties and had learnt that simple was best. Either way, Naomi went with her original choice of a Gingerbread Latte. Free for the whole afternoon? The blonde's eyes sparkled at the thought of it, and it was clear to see her delight at the prospect. Whilst she didn't want to seem like a crazy student asking question after question, this was an amazing opportunity and she didn't want to waste it. She hoped the older woman wouldn't be too adverse to a few queries she had regarding her career and the industry as a whole. "Oh no, I'd love to hear any input you have!" She was aware she probably was coming across as super-keen-to-the-point-of-crazy, but she couldn't help it. She was so excited! "I don't think it is dying," she commented, taking a sip of her coffee, "Everything's becoming more virtual-based, but dying makes it sound as if there'd be no need for it. There'll always be a need, a market for news." That was her two cents, anyway. "Do you mind if I ask how you got into reporting?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 1:17 pm
"Journalism is absolutely necessary, but most virtual sites these days fail to remember what makes the art more than just a skill. Fact checking, even copy editing and source verification, are moot points in an age where breaking a story is a competition of minutes. Print newspapers had their deadlines, their printing times, and their release schedule. It allowed for reporters to work hard to break a story in time for the print, but not before they had all their facts. That's not to say it was always perfect, but seeing how many stories have to be rebuked or removed due to incorrect information or just flat out lies, these days, is a miserable thing to have to sit and watch."
She smiled, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry, I didn't think I felt that strongly about it! It's just a change of times, and it's going through its bumps and awkward growth stages. I'm sure there's so much potential there for real, honest, good reporting. It just needs to find itself in this new medium. Computers and all that."
She had a lot more to say about it, like the fact that anyone could publish news on the internet, and the need for real, trained journalists as a trade was dropping as well, but she wasn't there just to scare the eager student. She was supposed to be there to support her and help her on her path.
"I studied it at school. Did the paper while I was in grade school, and just kept following it until I came here, and studied it at Uni. I took an internship with the paper here, and then they just kept me on. I think it's because there are not too many ladies in the offices." She grinned, teasing.
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Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 10:04 am
She was hanging onto the woman's every word, mouth stretched in a smile and eyes sparkling as she gave the occasional enthusiastic nod. This was priceless information, and she half wished she'd brought a notepad to write it down. Then again, she didn't want to look like a nutter. "That's why you get all of this trouble with lawsuits - people just don't check their facts before publishing something." It was a sad fact of life, and one that Naomi didn't quite understand. Were those few minutes really that precious, that you couldn't verify your source and double check your data? Peoples' lives were ruined because of false facts and pranks. "Oh no no no, don't apologise!" the blonde insisted, smiling widely, "It's really neat hearing how other people feel, and I totally agree with it!" She was aware that she sounded like a total kiss-a**, but it was true and either way she really really really wanted Gently to like her. "I've always preferred the good ol' pen and paper." Naomi's face fell a little at the mention of studying journalism - whilst she'd considered studying the subject directly, she'd worried about getting bored. By studying Classical Literature she was learning the valuable writing skills via the many essays she had to do, but at the same time was reading around a subject she loved. Homer had been a genius, if a slightly perverted one. "Oh, so you think I should try get into the uni newspaper?" She wasn't sure if there were any vacancies, but she was sure it would be easy enough to find out, "Would me not studying journalism hold me back at all, do you think?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 2:32 pm
"I don't think it would hold you back, though it might later if you want to pursue a career in it. But then, not even, because publishers are looking for different things these days, and journalists are being made from other fields."
With media converging, and print giving way to electronic devices, the need for schools to expand their definition of journalism was rising. Being aware of these changes, embracing them and learning with them instead of resisting and sticking to old methods, was probably what the world was calling for.
And what would prove to be a successful way to start a career.
Gently, really, felt she was just a little too early in school and a little too late to really change. She could work with what was thrown at her, but her heart belonged to the newspaper.
"I think you should see what kind of a column you could get at the paper, be it hard news or editorial. School papers are usually aching for writers, so I don't think they'll be too picky," she laughed.
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