The sky is falling, the sky is falling! Or so we're told by a host of characters, including religious zealots who have managed to convince 40 percent of Americans that the world will end before 2050, eviro-commies like Al Gore who would have us believe the world will cook us alive if we don't give the government even more control over the economy, as well as journalism's old guard who can't see past the death of newspapers. Trust me, if they tried to teach me anything during my two years of j-school, it was that I'll be working at a pizza joint for the rest of my life and that socialism really isn't such a bad idea after all.

Like most of these doomsday theories, however, reality is never as bad as the naysayers would have us believe. Reason Magazine's Katherine Mangu-Ward decided to prove this point by sending two of her loyal interns (including yours truly) on a mission to analyze, and find alternative source to, the print edition of The New York Times:

A CBC reporter tries to spark grassroots fury on Canadian streetsLast spring, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff stood in front of Canadians and issued an ultimatum to Prime Minister Stephen Harper: unless the government passed meaningful Employment Insurance (EI) reforms, the Liberals would force election-weary Canadians back to the polls. Of course the Conservatives never passed any EI reforms and Ignatieff never defeated the government.

It's that time of year again. Buses and trains servicing the country's institutes of higher learning are now standing room only. Campuses have been brought back to life as students fill the halls and lounge on the grass in a desperate attempt to soak up the last rays of sunshine before they are forced to face the realities of another harsh Canadian winter.

And so I found myself sitting in my first journalism class of the new semester, tense with questions of what the coming year will bring. What is the professor like? What kind of workload will I face? The professor wasted little time introducing himself and the course. This week's assignment: read a collection of articles compiled by NYU Journalism professor Jay Rosen.

The articles were all written in March 2009 by a variety of reporters, technology specialists, and media types. The theme of the articles quickly became apparent: newspapers are dying and no one knows how to make money in journalism anymore. Way to go, as if I don't have enough to worry about, I'm now being forced to read about how my chosen profession is in the midst of its death throes. There's already a high rate of suicide among students. Forcing them to spend hours reading about the futility of their chosen career would not seem to be helping the situation.

A few months ago, CBC reporter Duncan McCue gave a talk at the University of British Columbia, where he showed a news story about an environmentally friendly hair salon. He explained that it was part of the CBC's One Million Acts of Green campaign, where they challenge Canadians to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I said that I had a problem with a news organization, especially a government funded news organization, picking up a social cause, trying to get people to change the way they live, and then reporting on themselves as if it were actual news. I was apparently the only one there who thought this was objectionable.

More recently, there has been a lot of talk about how the media has handled the swine flu story. For weeks we were told that this was the beginning of the next great pandemic. Now, however, it seems as though cooler heads have prevailed. The story has been pushed off the front pages and people have begun to realize that the outbreak is actually quite mild so far. We have seen similar bouts of media hysteria in the past in regards to everything from bird flu to global warming. Not to be outdone, the CBC has managed to combine these two issues in a piece that is sure to cause fear and uncertainty in at least a few people. Watch out for the next major threat to human survival: killer microorganisms that are thriving thanks to global warming.