What's the biggest challenge facing young journalists? For me, it's money.

What is the biggest challenge for young journalists? Well, for me it's realizing that I'm not going to be a young journalist for that much longer, and because of that I wonder if I can afford to be a journalist.

I got into this business not too long ago because I felt it pulling at me. The importance of informing communities, helping people understand their place in their community and the world, the need to challenge those in power...these ideas struck me and inspired me to leave a job in PR that just started paying off financially.

Despite a bump in the road (a graduate program that failed to deliver), I've been pretty happy with my decision to enter journalism. I work at an innovative paper, er news organization, that gives me opportunities to report for print, for the Web and for television; it gives me space to explore lots of stories; it's taught me multimedia storytelling methods and has made me feel as if my decision to enter journalism was the right one. Unlike some outlets, this paper takes chances and encourages innovation and exploration.

But, as countless journalists before me can attest, journalism doesn't pad your wallet very well.

And with the media business free falling at an alarming rate, and no true viable business model on the Web, I'm pretty sure it's going to stay that way.

Add the lack of money to a desire to live in a big city (where jobs are shrinking, not growing), and I have a pretty good reason to wonder if I can afford to be a reporter. After all, I've got debts to pay and it's nice to be able to eat and drive my car.

There are social pressures, too. All of my friends, it seems, are getting married, buying houses, having babies. If a woman will ever agree to it, I'd like to get married someday. My romantic failures aside, the prospects of a reporter's paycheck providing the things I would like in my life are slim.

I am satisfied knowing that I am achieving what I want in journalism. But the future is scary. With 30 on the horizon, I realize that I'm not so young anymore and I'm tired of Ramen noodles, tasty as they are.

Can I afford to be a journalist? I just don't know.

Where was Biden's announcement?

There's no way Joe Biden and his people would try to overshadow Obama on this day...but given how the Obama camp told voters about the Biden choice, shouldn't Biden's people be doing a similar thing?

While "he" updated his Facebook profile, the only change on Biden's MySpace profile is the profile photo; there have been no comments posted since January. "His" Twitter account is silent.

Maybe it's because Biden was out of the race and is suddenly jumping back in. Or maybe it's because Biden is now part of the Obama brand. But it's a fractured media world, and I would have thought Biden would be announcing the news in some way, shape or form on the Internets.

Obama made news media look silly

I was supposed to have my annual review on Friday. But it got pushed back because everyone in the newsroom was clutching their phones, waiting for Barack Obama to txt us his choice for vice prsdnt. When KMBC suggested Evan Bayh was the choice, we wondered what happened to Kathleen Sebelius.

We knew Obama had to announce the v.p. choice before his speech in Springfield today, but we kind of figured it would be during a time where we could report on it as it happened.

You had poor Wolf Blitzer standing in his Situation Room, speculating. Kansas City news reporters staking out a company that produces political signs. You had reporters in Kansas staking out Sebelius. We all thought Obama's media machine would come through.

Well, it turned out it was Obama's NEW media machine that took the helm, sending a text message that woke me up at 2:48 a.m. CST to announce Joe Biden is the choice. (By the way, I predicted this months ago neener neener)

Obama made us all look silly. He bypassed the news media by letting people know the v.p. choice in an expressly modern way. It's akin to Twittering the choice, or announcing it via Facebook. It was immediate, it was direct and kept Obama in the news all Friday as people discussed who his choice could be. One commenter at Daily Kos said the speculation allowed McCain to "marinate" in the question, keeping his seven houses in the news.

Is it strange that Obama bypassed the media? Today's front pages were almost devoid of Biden news, though the Journal-World, NY Post got it. The Times didn't. The Wall Street Journal didn't. The Tribune speculated. However, a late-breaking AP story quoted an anonymous source saying Biden was the choice.

Bottom line, is it's fascinating how Obama's play to the people gave the message directly to them, at a time when only bloggers and barflies could learn and disseminate the news.

Though not all bloggers appreciated the "3 a.m. phone call:"

My new beat blog

Today LJWorld rolled out our new education beat blog, Schoolhouse Talk. 6News education reporter Lindsey Slater and I edit the blog, which we think will allow us to beef up and extend our coverage of schools in Lawrence. It's one of more than 10 blogs our reporters keep.

I've already got a million ideas for the blog, and things that can grow from it. Excited? You betcha.

It's ironic, because I don't do a particularly good job blogging here. I don't think I have many particularly interesting or groundbreaking insights to add to the debates surrounding journalism. Yeah, I have opinions and misgivings and maybe innovative ideas, but who cares what I think?

I have a few blog entries I want to write here, but I'm reticent to post them just because, well, what do I, as a reporter with a year under his belt, have to add?

I don't know. Maybe I'll post them here. All I know is that Schoolhouse Talk is going to be cool and fun. The layout might need some work, but that's a bridge we'll cross when we get there.

Cleaning house: New MTV Stuff

I've been seriously slacking here:

Here's how Greensburg is turning green, following the tornado:


Young people were leaving Greensburg, Kan., in droves before the May 2007 tornado. Now they're deciding to stick around:


Lastly, some words on T. Boone Pickens and the new wind power debate.

Greensburg keeps growing

Greensburg, Kan., was devastated by an F-5 tornado on May 5, 2007. Ten people were killed and the town had to start over. Early on, residents of Greensburg decided to rebuild their own "green," using the latest in sustainable technology to turn the tiny town into an internationally-renowned center of innovation.

Here's how the town's teens are contributing:

Nieman Reports, featuring me

I got my copy of the Nieman Reports today. The one that I contributed to. Yep. I wrote a story about my experiences covering Kansas for MTV's Street Team '08, and how the Web provides a conundrum for citizen reporters, who are not only correspondents, but pundits, as well.

For folks like me, who work at mainstream media outlets, it's a quandary...while this type of guerilla journalism allows for punditry, we walk a fine line of fact vs. opinion. I'll post the link once it's online.

It's pretty cool to see my byline next to the likes of John Harris. Liz Nord, queen bee of ST08, also contributed.