Tools for young journalists
My colleague who teaches (newspaper) editing asked me to guest-lecture in his class yesterday. He wanted me to speak about current online journalism practices.
As I guest-lecture in a number of classes in our college, I have to be careful not to always say the same thing and show the same examples. In this case, I considered that a fair number of the students in the room might be planning to graduate this May. So I thought about things I could share with them to get them ready for job interviews.
Here is the page of links and resources I created for them.
The gist of my lecture:
- Make sure you have a respectable online presence to show potential employers, including a well-formatted resume and examples of your work.
- Be prepared to be asked if you blog, and if not, to explain why not. Really, really bad answers: “I don’t have time,” and “I don’t know what to write about.”
- Make yourself familiar with wide-ranging examples of multimedia journalism. Looking at just two big sites from time to time will help you dispel your ignorance.
- Know what’s going on in your chosen field. If you are a magazine journalism major and you think online doesn’t matter for you, you are way, way out of touch. If you don’t know what’s going on in your own field, you have no one to blame but yourself. Are you a journalist or not?
- If you’re not using an RSS reader and reading blogs (as well as mainstream sources), you are out of touch, and this is probably going to hurt your chances of having a nice career in journalism.
My lecture seemed to be pretty well received, I’m happy to say. And I didn’t see anyone sleeping!
[...] Teaching Online Journalism » Tools for young journalists: “My colleague who teaches (newspaper) editing asked me to guest-lecture in his class yesterday. He wanted me to speak about current online journalism practices. [...]
January 23, 2008 at 9:11 amThank you for the lecture yesterday. I felt very lucky to have taken your other courses earlier in my college track, which forced me to develop my online presence that we all so desperately need. When job-hunt season starts in May, I know I’ll be even more thankful!
January 23, 2008 at 11:10 amProbably obvious, but as someone who has been involved with hiring young and not-so-young journalists, these tips apply to any age.
January 23, 2008 at 11:38 amA few Alligator people told me about your lecture. I think you scared them! Hopefully in a good way.
January 23, 2008 at 11:43 amMindy,
I think the advice is great, but I’ll have to say that a lot of that doesn’t matter for the majority of journalism openings. Oh, it should, believe me, but most places still haven’t gotten around to asking the questions you mention above.
I’d ask them. I’d want to know if they use social networks in addition and what they do on the Web. I interviewed at a lot of places to be a reporter before I took my job on the Web. Almost none of them cared that I had online skills. Some didn’t want to talk about my online skills at all.
True, those places are really struggling now. I wasn’t about to work at a place that put no value on the Web, but they saw a reporting opening, not an opening for someone who could write and do Web work.
I’m the only one on the Web staff at my current job who blogs or has a personal Web site. I would ask candidates if they blog or if they had a personal Web site to show case their work, but I don’t get a say in the matter because of regulations.
The vast majority of daily newspapers don’t care if their applicants are Web-savvy, because the people hiring them aren’t either. That’s why the vast majority of those newspapers are really, really struggling.
January 23, 2008 at 12:57 pmFair enough, Pat, but as one of the premier journalism programs in the country, we really don’t want our students to aim that low. In other words, we don’t relish the idea of our graduates working at a struggling publication where no one “gets it”!
We have heard from members of our journalism advisory board (editors at newspapers and magazines) that THEY are looking for these skills and asking these questions.
THEY give us an earful when they interview one of our students and discover the student is not savvy about this stuff.
January 23, 2008 at 1:03 pmMindy,
I applaud you for teaching this because, I think that all students should have an online presence, regardless if people ask them about it or not. It can’t hurt and certainly will help for a lot of jobs.
An online resume is so much better than sending clips around to people. I still remember sending my clips all over the place, despite the fact that I had them on my Web site.
Many jobs right now will want someone with an online presence, and students should be prepared for those jobs. I’d be willing to bet, however, that the majority of dailies still don’t get it.
The big issue is that the people hiring young journalists have to get it to and when they do, they can hire Web-savvy journalists.
But let’s be honest, not all personal Web sites or blogs are created the same. Mine site is hand coded and my blog has a custom theme, while many other young journalists grabbed a pre-made WordPress theme. Someone who doesn’t really get the Web won’t be able to tell the difference, but if I was hiring someone, I’d pay close attention to those details.
I bet I can name some pretty big papers that don’t really care if their reporters or copy editors have an online presence. I only have to take one look at the Plain Dealer’s Web site to know that top 20 paper doesn’t get it. Although, maybe a lot has changed since I graduated in May 2006.
I hope it has.
January 23, 2008 at 1:23 pm[...] Mindy McAdams dá dicas de ferramentas para jovens jornalistas: http://mindymcadams.com/tojou/2008/tools-for-young-journalists/ [...]
January 23, 2008 at 5:27 pm[...] Tools for young journalists. Seemingly tireless Mindy McAdams shares some notes, and helpful links, from a guest lecture. Good for aging journalists, too. [...]
January 24, 2008 at 1:33 am[...] Tools for young journalists [...]
January 24, 2008 at 4:08 amThese are great suggestions, but surely a journalist’s most valuable talent (not learned skill) is recognizing what is happening on the street and turning those observations into a compelling story.
Social networking may help a journalist find sources and conduct research, but I fail to see how creating an online presence improves his or her ability to tell a story.
Doug
January 24, 2008 at 8:29 am@Doug: I wasn’t teaching them how to tell a story. I was giving them job-seeking tips.
January 24, 2008 at 8:33 amPat said: “The vast majority of daily newspapers don’t care if their applicants are Web-savvy, because the people hiring them aren’t either.”
More newsrooms are putting Web-savvy journalists in key positions and meshing web and print operations. And we care whether the people we hire (and the one who already work there) have the skills to work in newsrooms that are doing more and more and more on the Web.
January 24, 2008 at 12:45 pmI know I already sent you a private message, but I’d just like to say that I went out and made a blog right after hearing Prof. McAdams’ lecture. Thanks again!
January 27, 2008 at 3:45 pm[...] Mindy McAdams tells students to make sure they have a respectable online presence. The key there is respectable. Don’t waste your time with an ugly, mistake-filled Web site [...]
February 1, 2008 at 10:40 am