Advice on entering the Journalism field

Every publisher in the country just creamed their Brooks Brothers boxers after reading that. "Holy shit! We can hire them at $15,000 and put twice as much work on them and they'll just be glad to be in the business! And the deductions for health care that we take out will equal $11,000 but what do we give a shit?"

 

I think an adequate job can be done by nearly anyone, great work is a completely different story though. The problem is there is so much elite talent out there that cant find a decent gig while these average clowns get in because of some connections.

There is a lot of decent stuff out there, and it comes from all places. Hell, you can even find some good stuff on the Bleacher Report from time to time. It really isn't hard to put out a decent piece.

But there aren't nearly as many out there who can consistently write great stuff. That is where I feel the true talent comes in.

 

Oh, good lord. There are two of you?

This is the worst possible time in history to pursue journalism as a career. Having said that, I will also point out that in all likelihood April 8, 2010, will be the worst possible time &c &c &c .... Check back about the time the business figures out how to make money on the Internet without falling back on the Dead Tree Scrolls.

I agree with BYH. Get out. You say you're not in yet? Good. Makes it a lot easier to get out.

 

To all those people ...

He-e-ere's your sign:

[/Engvall]

 

First thoughts: Stay out. As the business cuts back, cuts back, cuts back, there are just so few opportunities to get hired/advance. And, for the love of God, don't get a degree in journalism.

BUT, if you decide that you must give it a shot, place a call to the Orange County Register when you're at CS-Fullerton.

Full disclosure: It's my paper, although I'm on the way out, heading back to school while I still can.

The Register covers every high school football game played by OC high schools, and they're always looking for competent stringers in the fall. Also, a lot of local college kids work part time, answering phones, etc., so it's a good way to see how a good newspaper runs. Plus, check out their highly-successful high schools web site, OCVarsity.com, to get a sense of the direction this business is headed. To succeed today, for most journalists, you need to do a lot more than write well.

Also, when you get there, don't apologize about coming from CS-Fullerton, because that's where about half of the sports department went to school.

 

Actually, I've heard of some programs that are basically telling all of their journalism majors to go into PR. Wouldn't that be a kick? Paying that money to have your journalism prof flat-out tell you, "you're screwed, go into something else"? Good advice and much better than pretending journalism is the way to go. But still, that would really suck ass.

 

I see what you're getting at, but my point has less to do with great writing as it does executing the logistics of sports writing. I have many, many super-intelligent friends: accountants who audit and check facts and numbers, a pharmacist, oil company consultant, etc., etc.

But I can't think of hardly any of them who could handle covering high school football/basketball/baseball games - especially football - where they have to keep up with all their own stats and write a story within 30 minutes of the game being over.

If they had the chance to sit down and think about it for an hour or two, sure. But I think there are very few people who can write coherent, factually-correct material with the troubling notion of finding a wireless network at a Whataburger or motel lobby as quickly as possible once that story has been written hanging over them.

 

I graduated in December 2007, and odds are, I'm not going to add anything which hasn't already been said.

Getting a job out of college is luck at this point. It took four months after I graduated to get the job, which was luck. I have more experienced journalists each day tell me how lucky I am and I'm usually the first to agree with them. I was lucky to get an interview. It didn't matter what J-school, I went to. I just happened to find someone who liked my writing and decided to give me a chance to live out my dream.

Needless to say, less than six months into my desired career, the first round of layoffs hit my paper. We lost a sports guy, and I have a feeling I was kept because I was cheap, effective labor. I still am cheap, effective labor and learning quickly to become a better writer.

I have a great gig, an editor who cares enough to improve the section as a whole despite the skeleton staff we work with. However, that's not saying that I'm not looking to get out. With each passing day, my once bright-eyed motivation to fulfill my life's dream of covering a major Division I basketball beat fades and is replaced with jaded thoughts about how the industry is going to evolve to the point where the people out of college are going to be better equipped than I am. So take that thought with the countless amounts of people who have been laid off in the past few years, the job market is way too saturated to the point where not even at my best can I get to live out my dream.

The advice has been pretty straight forward, get out or don't even bother getting in. But if you are hell bent on getting in (you're 17, with plenty of college left to go, so maybe the industry will be slightly healthier), good luck to you. Hopefully, you're dream job doesn't became a grind like it has for me.

 

I enjoyed reading all the posts in this thread except Pettys. great advice. This one I cited was sobering. Wow.

 

Lighten up.

 

You could go to a place like Columbia or Missouri and get a prof who's resting on his laurels or get a department that's simply coasting on reputation.

Then you could go to a community college and happen to hook up with an advisor who will end up teaching you more about journalism in one semester of riding your ass at the college rag than you would learn in four years of journalism class lectures.

Like what others have said, where you go to school isn't that important. When I've been looking to hire people, I didn't pay any attention to where they went to school, or even that they went to college necessarily. I paid much more attention to applicants who had strong clips. In the end, that's much more important to you than where you end up getting a degree.

You'll meet brilliant people at Cal State-Fullerton. You'll meet legacy kids at Yale.

 

I've known people with pretty clips who knew absolutely jack about ethical issues, how to work in a newsroom environment, how to professionally approach a story they're not interested in doing, etc.

So many variables make up the total package . . . .

forever_town, I would hope you're not just summarily dismissing the schools with good reputations here. I know there are some here who hold as a badge of honor their dislike for the big boys, but let's be fair: every school has geniuses, every school has morons.

Every single one has professors who work their tails off for students, and others who rest and use their tenure to avoid work.

I admonished this youngster for being down on CSUF, but I also think we shouldn't assume that every Yale kid is a "legacy."