Question: How Do I Break Into Journalism?
You've got the desire -- now how do you get in the newsroom?
Answer: Newspapers prefer hiring reporters with a nice packet of clips, a designer with a folder of published pages. Education is always good, but it's that practical, hands-on experience that tells an editor that you're up to the job. One of the biggest quandaries faced by a wannabe journalist is how to build that file of published clips if a publication is only interested in hiring someone with experience. Some ways:
- Write for your college newspaper. This is more useful for some beats than others. Aspiring sports journalists will find a jackpot of collegiate events to cover, stories that don't differ greatly from what one might cover on a pro beat. Aspiring war correspondents may find a greater challenge in compiling clips in their desired beat, but can still crank out clips that display writing ability. College journalism is also a good opportunity to get practical feedback on your writing or design skills and work out the kinks before jumping into the job pool. It's also a first chance to start deciding which beat fits you best.
- Start small. Think about taking a reporter job at a weekly or small-town newspaper. Not only will you have the opportunity, with a smaller staff, to rack up lots of clips, you'll cover varied beats and acquire a wide range of experience. Because of the necessity to multitask with small staffing, as a writer you'll also likely learn pagination programs and photography/Photoshop skills. And because of that paper's small size, you'll get bigger opportunities to stack up the kind of clips you're looking for -- for example, reporters would have a greater opportunity to branch into column writing.
- Work your way up from the bottom. You might start out as an editorial assistant, compiling the calendar or obituaries and doing routine faxing and copying. But by starting out at the bottom of the newsroom ladder, bosses get the opportunity to observe qualities they'll want in a reporter: ability to meet deadlines, turning in clean copy, going one step beyond, ability to work well with others and good attitude. Say you've done the editorial assistant thing for a year and no opportunities to move up internally are the horizon -- you now have some practical newsroom experience that you can shop around when looking to move into a reporting position at another newspaper.
- Command attention as a citizen journalist. The old rules of journalism are being rewritten by the flourishing Internet, and news organizations are taking notice. So make them notice your work. Start a news blog and break stories. Build your sources and publish online content that scoops the big boys. Take advantage of news organizations' forays into citizen journalism, such as Reuters-Yahoo's You Witness News. If you're at the top of the game, you might receive offers of employment from news organizations -- or at least have an impressive package of self-published clips to include with a resume.More Journalism Q&A