We Want Media

So Jessica Gawker (Jessica Coen for all you media hounds living under a rock) came into NYU to talk to a bunch of students about journalism last week, and formalities aside, it was astounding. No, I'm not talking about the wise wisdom we expected out of the gossip blog's top dog (though the girl can come up with zingers faster than Bugs Bunny on Red Bull), I'm talking about the stark realization that I had while she explained how she became the ire of a thousand Page Six readers that being in the right place at the right time really pays off.

Coen, or J.Gawk as I'll call her, showed me that the most important thing to bring away from her group interview was not practical wisdom or "how to succeed"-type fare, but an understanding that for us J-kids, anything goes after graduation. J.Gawk is a living, breathing reason why watching "Good Night and Good Luck" won't leave me with anything but a soft spot for journalism's legacy and the determination to age like George Clooney.

Maybe I've just got endless purple robes in Shea Stadium on the brain, but 9-5 jobs aren't gonna do it for our generation. I leave the pad every day with a cellphone in one hand and an iPod in the other, and I'm thirsty for information right here, right now. J.Gawk's a symbol of why us J-kids are going to shake up the media industry, from news outlets to PR firms and every gossip blog in between. We're armed with a Batman-belt of Google, Wikipedia, and Craigslist, we live in two-bedrooms in Williamsburg, Harlem, and the LES, and we're not afraid to do our best blogging work at 4 a.m. - all for no one but emo MySpace tweens to hear.

You might not know where you'll be working next year, J.Gawk, but neither do we. Thanks for helping us realize that we don't have to feel like we should.