Over the weekend that began the month of March, some of the Independent staff and I went to San Francisco to attend a collegiate journalism conference. These conferences often take on the feel of a mixture between a support group and a pep rally. It is a time for speakers to remind all in attendance that journalists serve the public at large. Journalists have a responsibility to those who they serve and that journalists are a good and respectable breed that is here for YOU.
 
    After the masturbatory ceremonies propping the journalist up to some sort of sainthood, we are reminded that the industry is in peril. Newsprint is going out of fashion. This is generally blamed on the prevalence of the Internet. Citizens are gathering their information differently now, and if anyone hopes to find a paycheck for their saintly duties, they are going to need to learn to adapt.
 
    A lot of people now spend a large amount of time on-line and it naturally follows that if they want information, they’ll just navigate by mouse to their information of choice. The attendees of the conference seemed generally aware of the fact that many of the textbooks regarding journalism are going to be radically changed or face becoming obsolete.
 
    I think we watched the effects of this disconnect when people did what they could to move to San Francisco to find some sort of community in the 1960’s. Some traditional media types like the television might become replaced by the computer, which at first glance looks just as cold, but at least it’s a move towards a two way conversation. People are putting pictures of themselves on the Internet to say, “Here I am. Find me, look at me, talk to me!” It is a cry that beckons us to pay attention.
 
    At this conference, one of the main focuses was how we as a profession must listen to the way Internet is affecting people’s relationship with information and tap into it. I find this all very exciting to watch unfold, and I encourage everyone to be attentive to the coming changes. The citizens have an opportunity to get out of the rut that has become our daily information bombardment and move towards a better system of mass awareness