Journalism student looking for some advice

It will help your broadcast career immeasurably if you have some practical experience. Right now some other Masters candidate is working for minimum wage at a crappy 1,000 watt radio station in a cow pasture, getting comfortable with being on the air and learning on the job.

 

All right, maybe I'm just tired and grumpy and if this comes across that way, I'm sorry.

First off, getting the Master's Degree is a good idea, especially if you want to teach down the road... like you said 10 years.

But, dude, what kind of experience are you going to offer as a teacher? The best teachers I had did not follow the curriculum and more so, did not actually TEACH me. The best teachers I've had in the journalism realm came when I was actually working.

Get out there and get experience.

Now, you say you ONLY want to do sports. Well, I'm sure there are a lot of other journalists around here that also did something other than sports. You'd be surprise what you'd learn using your journalism knowledge for something OTHER than sports.

You want to write for a basketball publication, but you do not want to work for a newspaper? Where are you going to get experience writing? I can tell you the best basketball writers were not studs right away. Writing is a craft you never stop improving and by working at a newspaper that is not your school paper, you can get experience in writing to help you land that basketball publication gig.

Finally, getting a good job out of school is much more than what type of or how many degrees you have. It's about having the talent, but also KNOWING the right people. NETWORK. You're never too young.

I'm sorry if this sounded like I was pissing and moaning about today's "youth." But I guess that's how I interpreted it from your post. I should revise this post, but I'm too grumpy.

 

Nah, the man has his long-term career plan right in place.

He just hasn't translated it from the bubble into the real world yet.

 

It's seriously time to just create a boilerplate version of this and sticky it.

 

If you have the talent, you'll work your way up on TV or radio, perhaps quicker than someone who has less talent. Will a master's help you get there quicker yet? Again, it comes down to talent. I work with a couple of reporters who don't have college degrees, and one's a better writer and reporter than another guy who went to a prestigious J school for undergrad and another prestigious J school for his master's.

 

Mert's boiler plate is getting sticky.

 

PAGING BUCKWEAVER. PAGING BUCKWEAVER...
Your assistance is needed.

 

Apply to ESPN. They are the Worldwide Leader, after all.

 

get the masters - ten years from now it will give you options. if i'm not mistaken, mizzou's grad program offers practical experience at a station - kill two birds. start a blog - in ten years if you don't have a blog you won't exist.

 

Henri hypothesizes.