As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution directs its resources toward a digital future and offers buyouts to 80 of its employees, I begin to worry about my future as a print journalist. I don’t foresee print papers falling by the wayside as countless others do, but I do think that college journalists will have to adapt their coursework to the Web world.

A student worker in the Georgia Scholastic Press Association office (GSPA) sent an email to journalism professors quoting an AJC report that we don’t teach our journalism students the up-to-date tech style of the industry. The many tenured professors are still teaching class the way they were taught, and we’re writing in circles, trying to compete for the top industry jobs.

I recently read an article that the Editor-in-Chief at the Red & Black wrote for her editorial class, and she’s dreading the last few months until her graduation. What has become so popular and necessary in the second-to-second world of instant online journalism is finally becoming a reality to this year’s seniors. The GSPA worker who sent the email is also fretting about the same idea.

As a freshman, I have the opportunity to pick up where those who are just a few years ahead of me can’t.

That issue is why I signed up for the free blogging and soundslide lessons offered by the Red & Black online editor today and why I’m tinkering around with this blog. I am determined to show my proficiency with WordPress, FrontPage, InDesign, Quark, Word, Excel, Photoshop, Soundslides, Audacity a digital voice recorder, a Canon Rebel, and whatever else I will probably pick up in the next few years. While I used to think I would leave CSS to the pros, I’m now considering it crucial to the appeal of a blog or news site.