Is there any way to avoid a preps gig as your first job?

Given what's happened in journalism in recent years, there's probably very few of us who don't have regrets about paths not taken. You can still make a change. Many of us have done so.

And I don't think your thread was received poorly at all. You got what you were looking for: a lot of great, different perspectives, opinions and thoughts that undoubtedly helped you think things through, and, probably, changed your mind/approach to some things.

 

Exactly. I would give anything to be back at several ages where I thought I was “too old” to do something big and scary.

 

<gets on soapbox>

I've had 3 completely different (and by most measures, successful) careers and I was born while LBJ was in office.

My point being that anyone who reads SJ regularly most likely has the journalism skills that can aid a jump to whatever new field you choose. Especially in this day and age where so much knowledge is available online for whatever field you're looking into.

Just do it. Get the F out of journalism while you still can. The industry doesn't deserve you (and by you, I mean anyone still reading this...)

<gets off soapbox>

 

Great advice.

Also, No. 2 is spot on about the awful schlongform being foisted upon the masses. Holy fucking shit, where are the copy editors or anyone with balls and a scalpel to say, "NO, you're NOT writing this long about this." and then start slicing? Not everything requires an open notebook vomiting every breath, word, eye raise and teardrop, even on the internet where space isn't limited.

 

This has been a fascinating thread.

I am probably about the same age as the original poster here, and I can definitely agree I had the same attitude about covering preps coming out of school. Then I covered preps and my attitude toward it, work ethic and appreciation for telling people's stories no matter where you're at did a 180. Especially in this age, I would actually jump at a preps job before a college one. Who wants to sit in front of Zoom meetings all day quoting basketball coaches who swear they are God and jumping through the PR hoops so they might let you do a feature on a 20-year-old?

Covering preps is a solid introduction to journalism, and if those "middle" jobs like the Sun Belt, WAC, etc. beats still existed there would be a legit path to earning a spot covering a major college or pro team. Instead, hundreds of people cover that stuff for no pay through SB Nation or whatever and the few good ones end up getting hired full-time somewhere doing something, and most of the time those jobs aren't purely writing.

 

- "I don't want to get buried as soon as the next crop of talented writers comes up the ranks." - It happened more or less immediately. I've lost count how many better-paying gigs have passed me over in favor of a Mizzou/Syracuse/Penn State/Michigan grad walking straight out of school into college beats without any time "paying their dues" at smaller beats and papers.

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Let me address this from what I know, which is Mizzou. At least there, you have a chance to cover major college basketball and football. I covered Norm Stewart’s team for a full semester and parts of others.

Point is, I came out of school with more experience covering a “bigger” beat, which often gives graduates a leg up when starting out.

And then in my first job, I covered preps.

Edit: Before covering the men’s basketball team, I earned the opportunity by first covering preps and then women’s basketball.

 

There was nothing in the original post about pushing 50 pound carts. So based off what you wrote, what would you expect Brian, Doc and Write to say?

 

I listed plenty of more helpful responses in the post you quoted.

 

You called a lot of people’s life’s work soul draining uninteresting and repetitive. You got off easy with what they had to say. There was no bad faith invovled.

 

Do they only want to hire young, or are the young the only ones naive enough to pursue the low-paying openings?

 

Really great post, GA. This whole thread was like a time machine.

At the time it started, I covered preps. Then I covered colleges and now I'm in the pros. The one I enjoyed the most? Preps, by a mile.