So kids, what have we learned by now?

April 28, 2014: I honestly cannot believe the time to conclude this academic year has come. It is not only the end of the Spring 2014 semester, but is also the final day of my Multimedia Journalism class, which turned out to be a real journey for me.

I started off with the idea to develop a wordpress blog on the topic of politics, as it is one of my majors at the university, and to use this blog as a platform to interview people from different social backgrounds in order to “test” the extent of their knowledge on Bulgarian politics. But, as I said, that was just the initial intention.

The more I asked, the more questions kept arising, because I could not reach a definitive answer to W H A T is it exactly that people know about their country. I interviewed students, professors, retailers, librarians, and what I found out was that people have general information only on the things that concern them directly. Everything else is outside the realm of their interests.

During this semester, I am also taking a political course titled “Culture and Power.” It’s an upper level course of topics in politics, which traces the changes in people’s culture and behavior since the period of the Enlightenment until today. Our professor gives us a lot of material to read from, and most of the articles are related to certain psychological changes in people’s mentality that have led them think in a totally opposite way than their ancestors.

Why am I telling you this? Because the course helped me understand at least partially why were the people I interviewed so apathetic toward the events around them, such as mass protests, European Parliament elections, newly appointed ministers, changes in legislation, etc. In fact, what the “Culture and Power” course suggested was that this overarching detachment with reality was no longer called “apathy.” It had been already accepted as the normal social behavior, which appears difficult to grasp by some, but is absolutely conventional for those who have embraced the modern values of the 21^st century: satisfaction of immediate needs, ego gratification, emotional detachment toward others, while at the same time maintaining increased demand for their emphatic behavior.

Partially, this is due to the major influence of the medium that I’m writing from right now: the computer. I would not go about blaming technological advances, because I respect how much they have eased our lives. However, what I just admitted as their biggest contribution to mankind is also the reason why technology has had a detrimental influence on those whose life revolves entirely around it: it has just made life too darn easy for them. They no longer feel the need to go outside and “see” the news as it happens, because one click on the Internet will take them there, live from the scene of events. Social media, on the other hand, has decreased face-to-face communication, because you can now reach your friend on the other end of the world through the power of your keyboard.

Blogging is also part of online activities, but it also represents a portion of how journalism works: it is real reporting by professional or freelance journalists, who have actually gone out in the world, seen the events from up close, and then assumed the task to inform others. This is what I tried to do in my blog: find the answer for myself and inform my audience on whether Bulgarians know what is going on in their country (you can find a link to one of my previous posts, which tries to explain exactly this).

I also wanted to update those I interviewed on the issues they had missed out on. That is, to shed some light on what exactly it is that I’m trying to figure out, and to help them catch up with the facts.

And so, I found out that the answer to my question lies somewhere in the middle between “yes” and “no.” As I said, the awareness of what is happening depends on how much it affects people’s lives, and at what proximity it is to their daily activities.

Just as expected, the younger generation knew much less than their predecessors. Regardless of their standing, students gave me general answers, defining the political situation in Bulgaria as “unstable” and “complicated.” I agree, but I wanted to know how and why it was so. I did not need summaries, I needed specific scenes, which is actually what I got from the more experienced people I interviewed: my political science professor, the 38-year-old retailer on the street, and my cousin, who has lived in the US for four years, and is now a librarian at AUBG. They had the facts to substantiate their opinions and this is what I hoped to hear from at least some of the younger interviewees.

I wanted to talk to more students, but while I was doing my research, I could not find anyone interested enough in the political life in Bulgaria. I got reactions like “Ugh, I don’t know anything about politics,” or “I’m so not the person to ask; I don’t follow news.”

Though this blog is now in its end, I feel like starting a new one, where I could continue my search for those young people who are really interested. Regardless of the unsatisfactory findings, I am grateful for taking this class and for the things it taught me: MMJ is the perfect mixture of good old-fashioned written journalism and its more modern technological version of multimedia reporting. I encourage people to take it and develop their skills as “backpack journalists.”

Check out this video with the latest statements of students on campus:

Have a great summer and stay vigilant!