Advice For Those Starting Out

Newspaper jobs and journalism jobs aren't the same thing. If you're a younger person, which I am not, there are a lot more opportunities than just trying to get a newspaper gig. Those of us who are traditional journalists may be fucked (to varying degrees), but I hate the chorus of people giving advice based SOLELY on their newspaper experience. It's a big world out there. If you're young and you want to be a journalist, pretty much every option is open. The reflexive "run away, run far away" advice is not only counterproductive to younger people looking for legitimate guidance, it's counterproductive to the profession. I just hate the incessant whining. It doesn't do anyone any good.

 

Eh, it does good to the people who listen to us. But that's the case with everything, and not enough people listen!

You're right that I'm not tapped into the current, entry-level journalism market. But knowing the little that I do about it, I don't see a whole lot of jobs that are or will soon be above poverty level. You can certainly have fun in those jobs, as we all did when we were younger, but we used to be able to dream of the middle class.

 

It's not just that we're bitter, underpaid, bitchy journalists. Those of us who have been doing this 20, 30 or more years remember what the media used to be, and when we see what's left, and see friends and colleagues go through an emotional and financial wringer, we tend to be negative about the future.

The business model which sustained newspapers, radio and TV stations is breaking apart rapidly, and there's no viable alternative in sight. That's why everyone is negative about going into journalism.

I got into this business with altruistic notions, and I still have those. But I'm not going to change a damn thing for the better working for newspapers — not anymore. Honestly, I'm just hanging on until my family and financial situation allows me to make a difference doing something else.

 

Sure, but people coming into the industry aren't doing so because we think it's the industry of 20-30 years ago. Many industries are no longer what they used to be. People are joining because we want to be a part of today's industry, not the industry of yesteryear.

 

The thing you have to remember -- or rather, to realize in the first place -- is that much of the negativity comes from 20-20 hindsight. It has occurred AFTER the fact of our leaving the business. Very likely, its genesis can be traced to our having been forced out of the business, involuntarily, as a result of terminations, layoffs, feeling run off, etc. In short, many of us were hurt.

To a man (or woman), however, I would bet that any of us no longer in business probably weren't feeling that negative, or at least weren't feeling so strongly negative about the industry, while we were still in it. What you're hearing and sensing is the result of experience and perspective.

 

At some point, it needs to be balanced against the bitterness apparent in pissing on what remains the dream of some young people. I look around my newsroom and see at least 10 people under 30 AND making a living wage. Take note that this is 3-a-week publication, so they've obviously made some adjustment for being an online-first entity.

There's something out there, just not as much as there was when you were looking for employment, and not the same thing.

 

No one ever spelled the truth about the industry out for me when I was in college, so bitter or not I think threads like this and the reactions they get matter.

I heard the usual "You won't make a lot of money" but I had no idea what the hell that meant, and in my estimation it was "OK I won't get a boat or an Audi, whatever." It was never spelled out that you'd probably start out at McDonald's money and top out at 40-50K a year if you're lucky. That benefits would be terrible and expensive, and that's if you get on staff because more and more outlets are going with defacto FT freelancers to avoid health insurance costs. Especially journalism web sites, which while great often ask you to write for free, and if they do pay certainly don't pay benefits.

Would that info have changed my mind or my career path? I honestly don't know. Students lurking now or asking should know it though.

 

What JimmyHoward said. I hadn't thought of it before he mentioned it, but it's very pertinent. You know how many full time sports writers the area 100,000 circulation paper has? Three: a columnist, a college guy and a prep guy. The rest of the content comes through stringers or wire. In fact, most of their high school content comes from stringers. It's crazy how much area publications have scaled back in terms of sizing in the last 10 years. The amount of full-time jobs continues to dwindle -- but there is more freelance work available. Good luck making ends meet as a stringer for midsize or small papers. Are there are online companies around here? Sure, and they have absolutely no benefits if you work for them. Those sites may employ you as a "staff writer," but in reality you function as (and are paid like) a stringer.

 

Do what makes you happy. If you want to write about sports, do it. Just understand--which I think should be obvious now--that you probably won't make a fortune.

If you want to make an assload of money, pick another gig. If you have talent and the right attitude, you can make a fine living in a rewarding profession.

If you have a shitty attitude, odds are you'll be miserable in any profession you chose.

People ask me all the time about how I like my job. I tell them it beats having a real job.

 

This. This. This.
I, too, had heard I wouldn't make much money but I felt surely it would be enough to get by on. But it's not. The only raise I've had since 2008 was when I got laid off and my new job paid more (at a smaller market, if you can believe that, which says a lot about my old shop). And I'm on public assistance even with that. That's crap.

Also, the bizarro world schedule. I have to take vacation to go watch my kids play a little league game or sing in a recital. And forget weekends. Ever since my oldest started school, I've not seen her more than an hour a day, the exception being Saturday mornings.

I can't see "if I had known" but rather "if only I had appreciated....."

 

I've been doing this for 35 years, and the finish line is on the horizon. I was forced out once and, believe it or not, appreciated the opportunity to get back in. My workplace, while certainly not warm and fuzzy, is still a few cuts above being a sweatshop, and I can put up with it for three or four more years. It would be a disappointment not to end my career on my own terms, and I realize that's a possibility, but I'm committed to making the effort.

While I would not discourage a young person from taking a newspaper job, I would counsel him/her to look upon it differently than I did years ago. Back then, I saw my first job as a stepping stone to a bigger newspaper and wasn't really interested in another profession. Now, I think you maybe have to look at an entry-level newspaper job as a stepping stone to professions that have has a more promising and lucrative future, and the focus should be on developing skills that will be transferable in a digital communication job market. None of the people under 30 I work with foresee themselves in newspapers 10 years from now (and the way things are going, they may not have a choice in the matter).

 

This is a great point, Bronco.