I was also born and raised in a family of die-hard Tarheel fans so my decision to attend Carolina was met with great enthusiasm by my relatives. In fact, I think I would have been disowned by my family if I hadn't chosen UNC (my uncle hummed the alma mater every moment he was around me for months, no joke). However, when it came down to final decision time, I was truly drawn to Carolina by the journalism program and the great college atmosphere.
I have enjoyed writing my entire life -- creative writing was my first passion, but throughout high school, my interest in journalistic writing as well as my fascination by politics increased. I became an avid reader of Newsweek and Time and began frequently watching the news. In the evenings, while I was working out at the Y, I watched two adjacent televisions showing FOX and CNN respectively. With the reputations of the networks as biased news sources, I was intrigued to see how they covered the same stories. I never discovered any drastic differences (except perhaps between the talk shows), but it was still quite the experiment. My final news source was somewhat of an accident. Although I wasn't thrilled about it at first, I spent many car rides with my parents listening to NPR. As a kid, I begged to listen to music instead -- especially when my incredibly unreliable cassette player failed -- but it eventually grew on me. I did learn quickly though that discussions with my parents could not be held until AFTER the show was over.
I attended Myers Park High School, a huge public school with a diverse population of around 2800 students. While most of my peers weren't consistently up-to-date on current events, I was surprised to find that many paid at least some attention to the news, especially during the presidential campaign last year. Many students watched the Colbert Report or the Daily Show with Jon Stewart (watching it every night is a favorite pastime of my brother and I).
Another news source of my peers was our school newspaper, The Hoofprint. It was actually fairly popular among the student body (and I'm not just saying that because I was on the staff). We strived to produce a paper that was controversial and acted as a voice for the overlooked members of our school's population -- even in the face of opposition from the school administration. We included stories on homosexuality, underage drinking, overcrowding, students' rights, and the achievement gap. We balanced those with human interest pieces and funny columns to create a well-rounded paper. Features about unusual individuals, such as a teacher's brother who was biking around the world and two teachers who compete in the Highland games, drew students in with their originality. The paper may not have reached everyone at Myers Park, but on distribution day, it was exciting to see how many students spent class time flipping through the newspaper (although some teachers weren't particularly pleased with the distraction).
The Charlotte region's main newspaper is The Charlotte Observer. The paper's once stocky appearance has become increasingly slim, and the decrease in the number of stories written by local reporters is equally alarming. I believe more and more Charlotte residents are turning to the Internet as their primary source of news. Much of Charlotte's economy revolves around the banking industry -- an industry that depends heavily on nationwide events and companies -- and, as a result, people with careers in this field turn to national news sources online such as The Wall Street Journal or The New York Times. With the state of Charlotte so closely tied to the national financial industry, local news often takes a backseat. In addition, the local news network provides a brief rundown of noteworthy events -- a quicker and more convenient alternative to reading the newspaper. Other publications, such as Charlotte Weekly and Charlotte Parent, target specific groups of the population and are read by a limited group of people.
Gossip is a source of news for almost everyone in Charlotte (whether it is intentional or not). Some residents are experts at spreading news through carpool lines, phone trees, PTA meetings, clubs, and social events. I have witnessed this firsthand with my mom's book club -- their discussion of novels often morphs into a discussion of the personal lives of themselves and others. But don't get me wrong. In my opinion, this is not necessarily a horrible thing. I think gossip has gotten a bad rep; pop culture frequently associates it with catty girls and harmful rumors. Honestly, though it may not be the most reliable source of news, it is still an effective way to spread information. It provides basic information to people that they can then further investigate themselves. Individuals who might otherwise never learn about an event may hear about it from a friend and look it up. In the end, this exchange of news is unavoidable. We should embrace it and make more accessible tools for people to check the validity of gossip, enhancing the positive news-sharing aspect of it while negating the potential for spreading rumors.
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