Over the years, conversations with friends and colleagues and listening to my parents friends and sometimes relatives gripe about their jobs, I have learned that a lot of people don’t like what they do. They’re working to make money to survive or they’re settling for something they fell into easily.

For those people that may be fine, but I know I would never be able to work somewhere and not love what I was doing.

As articles about how tough the news business is, pop up almost daily. As columns about how journalism is dying continue to be tweeted. And as year after year, survey after survey ranks “journalist” as one of the worst jobs a person could have, the Generation J committee has something to say: WE LOVE OUR JOBS!

Yes, I think our enthusiasm shines brightly in our blogs and our tweets daily and I like to think it’s just as contagious, this time we wanted to scream it and make sure every journalist and even those non-news people out there are hearing us loud and clear.

So, tomorrow will mark the beginning of a series of posts from Gen J committee members and young journalists working in news that will tell you why we love what we do.

These blogs will run right up to the start of the SPJ and RTDNA Excellence in Journalism Convention which begins September 19. The fun and love of journalism will continue at the convention where you can meet and mingle with the committee members and other young journalists who love their jobs.
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We’ve seen a lot of mistakes in the news lately. What causes this? Why are reporters so willing to give up all their instincts to be first? Is it the reporters? Is it the networks? Is this driven by the advertisers? The public? These are the questions (and more, of course) we will be discussing in our July #GenJ Twitter chat. Join us Monday, July 23 at 9pm ET on @SPJGenerationJ to chat with fellow reporters about what you think causes the rapid-fire news presentation these days and, what we can do to change it.

Haven’t been to a chat before? Check out this Storify of our May chat to get an idea of the format.

If you have any questions, tweet @SPJGenerationJ or @giornalista515 before Monday.

By: Tom Naples, Guest Gen J Blogger

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it’s like being a young journalist and embarking on a journalism career. I have an internship, I write and edit for a local weekly, and I Tweet obsessively. So what? There are hundreds, if not thousands, of others out there just like me, against whom I’ll be competing for entry-level jobs at a declining number of publications and news outlets.

I just stumbled across this Atlantic Wire piece titled “What Do Young Journalists Have to Worry About?” The answer–technology. I take exception to this because I believe technology, especially social media, is the future of journalism and, as a young journalist, it’s my responsibility to embrace it. This past week’s #muckedup chat (recap here) addressed the future of journalism and the running theme was that technology and social media are it. With the rising popularity of platforms like Storify, RebelMouse, and Storination (the latter two are still in beta; disclaimer: I’m still figuring these platforms out) I can’t help but see journalism heading in this direction.

So, how can young journalists like myself set ourselves apart? By embracing technology. By networking with other young journalists and asking lots of questions of older ones. Here’s a list of suggestions for recent J-School graduates from Nieman Lab.

What’s next for me? Well, I’m graduating in December, so I’ll be applying to jobs and j-school soon.

I’m building a list of young journos on Twitter, check it out here.

What do you think about technology and the future of journalism? Please, Tweet me or comment below.

This post was first published on Tom’s website: http://thomasnaples.com/.