A PetiX Life

In my last post, I wrote about leaving journalism. My eyes are set on something else now and I’ve already set aside my journalistic pen. Then I took an online test to see what my aptitude was and perhaps know where I’ll be good at. I know, it’s hilarious. I actually took a test so that a test could tell me where I’m good at!

Anyways, my test results just came out and guess where I’m good at supposedly. Here’s a summary of my results:

"You are equipped with a verbal arsenal that enables you to understand complex issues and communicate on a particularly high level. These talents make you a Word Warrior.

"Whether or not you recognize it, your vocabulary is your strongest suit—use it whenever you can. Since your command of words is so great, you are also a terrific communicator — able to articulate big ideas to just about anyone. Your wordsmithing prowess will also help in artistic and creative pursuits. The power of words translates to fresh ideas off paper too. Since you have so many words at your disposal, you are in a unique position to describe things in an original way, as well as see the future in your mind’s eye.

The foreign trips, the sumptuous meals, five-star hotel accommodations, freebie gadgets and the fascination of being able to try out new computer technologies before other people find out they even exist are some of the many things I miss about being an IT journalist. I’ve been away from journalism for a couple of months now. I’ve temporarily parked my journalistic pen and hopped a ride towards a different career path. I’m pursuing a new story, one that is certainly life-changing. Some people still can’t imagine me doing something else but writing, although I tell them that writing will always be with me. I’m just chasing a different adventure this time, working out a new lead, developing a new angle and hoping for a new ending.

It’s a bit strange actually how easy it was for me to make a transition and leave journalism behind. I’ve been breathing the journalistic air since high school through college and I even thought it was the only way for me to live my life. That last thought is probably the biggest worst assumption I’ve ever concocted, bigger than thinking I was That’s Entertainment material back then. Way, way much bigger.

This is not to say that I’ve sucked at being a journalist. I’d like to think that I’ve done my fair share and contributed humbly to the development of IT journalism, a niche area, in the 10 years I was at it. This is just to say that I’ve longed to do something else but didn’t quite know exactly what it is until this past year.

It can be argued that it took me a while to realize what I wanted to do. That may be true, but I’m just happy that I’ve done so while I’m still alive. Some people never get a breakthrough and labor endlessly until their very last breaths, not ever being able to taste what they really want. I’ve gotten a new lease in life, a fresh start, and I’m happy with that.

Leaving journalism is a decision I had to make not because journalism sucked, but because I found something else I wanted to do. There’s a difference between leaving behind a regrettable past and an experience that you will cherish until all your gray hair have fallen off. I’ve had ten wonderful years in journalism. My former roommate, Ram, used to tell me I had the best job in the world. I had new gadgets all the time, I ate at the fanciest restaurants, slept in the best hotels, and traveled to the best places in the world! How could you not like sleeping at the Ritz Carlton, bonding with Mickey Mouse and company in Florida, riding a Segway even before it started selling in the market, battling waves in Maui and kayaking in Palawan all for free! Back when I shared a flat with a couple of friends from UP, I was embarrassed to tell them I was leaving for a short trip out of the country because I’d be leaving again shortly when I come back. Sometimes I wouldn’t see my roomates for a week or two and I was embarrassed to say I just got back from two different countries. I never imagined being a jet-setter but I got to experience that as an IT journalist.

Life as a journalist wasn’t all about that of course. The most memorable moments in a journalist’s life are when one’s works are recognized by other people, when you feel you are relevant, when you are respected and trusted by your readers. There were awards given by peers and industry groups, but the more unforgettable experiences came when people came up to you to say that they appreciated your work.

It may sound strange, but the things I loved about my former job were also some of the reasons I decided to leave.  The frequent traveling as a journalist ignited in me a passion to try and discover the vast treasures of the world. This is probably the single most important reason I left journalism behind. I want to explore the world, I want to go backpacking in Europe, buy a house in Italy or Greece, discover the pyramids of Egypt and spend a night or two in any of England’s hundred castles, and paying for them with my own money.

This is probably the new life story I’m trying to pursue. I want to conquer the world and write about it. There is so much to discover about the world and I’m hoping I’ve taken the right path to experiencing it.

My old friend and former colleague in IT journalism, Jenny Malapitan, wrote a couple of weeks ago about the looming extinction or transformation of journalists. She said that publishers today are increasingly looking for journalists who can create multimedia content. I remember a conversation I had with a top executive of IBM some six or seven years ago. Back then, the Internet bubble had not burst and many of the dotcoms were barely in the weaning stage. I remember the IBM guy saying that the Internet would need journalists who could present information in ways that would be interesting for users. Journalists with good presentation and multimedia skills would fuel the Internet boom.

Even as early as the late 90’s, there was already talk about the transformation of journalists in the face of the Internet technology revolution. I doubt that journalists are much more skilled in multimedia creation today as they were six years ago. Besides being able to create Friendster accounts and perhaps a blog or two, journalists today would probably have little IT technical skills to speak of. When I say technical skills, I don’t mean being able to tweak a notebook computer or customize an iPod, but I mean being able to create some cute application in Java or a fancy Flash movie. Those journalists who have these abilities are the exceptions and they make up a very small percentage of the population.

More than just the Internet itself, the creation of blogs in particular have put pressure on journalists, not to transform, but to enhance the intrinsic skills and traits that made them what they are in the first place. With blogs, people now have numerous sources of news, information and commentary. There’s no study yet, but I would surmise bloggers are being read more now than traditional news sources like newspapers, magazine and their online counterparts. With so many bloggers or so-called armchair journalists competing with traditional journalists for people’s attention, the traditional journalist has to come out with more credible, more interesting, and more insightful news and commentary than what these bloggers produce. This crisis does not require journalists to learn new tricks but it requires them to find a way for their intrinsic value to shine much brighter than ever before. It requires them to write much better, find more credible sources, seek out truth much harder, and become much more relevant in people’s lives everywhere than in the past.

So, do I think journalists, bred in the old-fashioned way, will become extinct? I seriously doubt it. Journalists are not like dinosaurs: they don’t become extinct with the changing environment. If there are journalists who disappear from the limelight, it doesn’t mean they’ve become extinct–they’re just pursuing a "new" story.