Monday, December 15, 2008
Gov't paying for young reporters' internships?
Here's an interesting concept.A radio segment in last week's On The Media featured New Republic writer Mark Pinsky, who suggested -- in so many words -- that the U.S. government could (should?) pay writers (i.e. journalists) to writer the nation's history.
A short history lesson:
During the roll-out of FDR's New Deal in the 1930s, the Works Projects Administration created the Federal Writer's Project, which employed out-of-work writers to "(compile) local histories, oral histories, ethnographies, children's books and other works."
Project workers famously collected narratives from former slaves in the South and created the American Guide Series. They were paid about $80 a month, which is $1264 today.
Pinksy suggested media workers could push for the Obama administration to resurrect the project as part of his economic stimulus plan. For example, that could mean a government agency could hire journalists right out of school to record current events for the nation's archives...or subsidising student internships for the nation's struggling (failing...dying...imploding) print media industry.
Here's a podcast of the show segment. Listen for yourself. Then leave a comment.
Labels: internships, NPR, the industry, US goverment
continue...Thursday, August 07, 2008
Summer Survivial
One-third of the Ten95 crew participated in a panel during Unity called "Paying it Forward: How to Maximize Your Internship," as a part of the all-star crew that included recruiting phenom Joe Grimm, radio guru Doug Mitchell and reporting superstars Chloe Hilliard and Marlon Walker. Veronica moderated and I was a panelist.The room was packed. The kids were eager. The advice was super sound. Below are a few pics from event and our Top 20 lists of things to do -- and not to do -- while on a summer internship. The tips were written from a print perspective, but are applicable across mediums.
- DO learn who is who on the staff.
- DO understand that each staff is a living organism that you should easy your way into SLOWLY. Assertiveness is great but sometimes misplaced enthusiasm can rub some the wrong way.
- DON'T blog (Facebook or MySpace) about your internship. Your employer is watching and reading.
- DON'T feel a sense of entitlement while you're in a newsroom. Just because there are front page stories (or great packages) without writers, don't think that one is going to be yours.
- DO watch your editor to determine his or her work pattern and the best time of day (or week) to seek guidance and feedback.
- DO arrive 30 minutes early every day to get the best assignments. The early bird gets the worm. There are stories that your editor is probably waiting to assign as people come in for the day so make sure you're in the mix!
- DO cultivate a few relationships with people who understand your thought process well enough to be excellent references in the future and collect their business cards.
- DO offer to help out in any little way with a big story.
- DON'T jeopardize your credibility by having a romantic relationship during your internship --- especially not one with a permanent staffer.
- DON'T ever be hard to reach. Questions and opportunites can arise at any time.
- DON'T take criticism of your work personally. Work with your supervisors to make it better.
- DON'T say "I don't want to," and don't hesitate to say, "I'm not sure how, but I want to learn."
- DO make sure that you understand your assignment and ask detailed questions before you head out to report. You can write the best story in the world, but if its not what your editor requested, it won't earn you any points.
- DO make or beat your deadline.
- DO chat up other reporters. If you see a story someone did and you liked it or are interested in the process, ask them out for coffee or stop by their desk.
- DON'T forget to check every name, age, address and fact in your story, in addition to running spell check. No one likes messy copy.
- DON'T turn your nose up at any assignment. Small stories lead to bigger opportunities.
- DO ask for feedback. Midway through your internship, schedule a sit down with your editor/supervisor to discuss your performance to-date. What areas need work? In what areas are you excelling? What does your editor want to see going forward? Take the feedback to heart and work on the areas that need improvement.
- DO set tangible goals. Make a list that will serve as the roadmap to your internship. What skills do you want to learn? What particular stories or topics would you like to cover?
- DO come up with your own story ideas and pitch them to your editor.
(Photo captions from top to bottom: Talia answering a question on the panel; Chloe and Marlon dropping knowledge on the interns; Veronica keeping us all in line.)
Labels: internships, Job survival, NABJ, office politics, tips and tricks, unity
continue...Thursday, July 24, 2008
Ask and Ye Shall Receive
By 7:45 a.m. today, I was up, dressed and having breakfast with Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher of The New York Times.Yeah, I was doing it up. But not really.
See, the breakfast was sponsored by the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. In honor of the milestone, they invited alumni of their programs to this breakfast and conversation about the future of the industry with Sulzberger.
I ain't an alumni. But my boss is.
When I told her I was going to UNITY, she mentioned that she'd been invited to this breakfast and wouldn't be able to go. It sounded interesting so I asked.
"Do you think you could see if I could go in your place," I asked her. "Since I'll be there. I don't like mornings, but at conventions, I try to go to as many sessions and events as possible to take advantage of my time there. Just let me know if it is a possibility."
It was.
And the sausage, blueberry pastry and pineapple were mm mmm good.
That's one of the cardinal rules of internships, jobs, shoot, just life. Ask and ye shall receive. If there is an opportunity for you to even play a small part on a large project, or you see a reporter grumbling about a story you'd love to have, ask to help out. The absolute worst thing that can happen if you ask is that a person says no. At best, you'll have a great byline, or tagline on an important story and you'll build relationships with coworkers and gain reporting/interviewing/writing techniques by osmosis. So identify what you want, who might be able to give it to you, and see if they're willing to do so. You might be surprised at their answer.
To be honest, I almost didn't make it there this morning. Last night, we were out singing karaoke at a local club in the Sheraton lobby. I didn't make it to bed until 2:30 in the morning. So when that clock went off at 6:20 a.m., I pressed snooze.
And again at 6:45. And 7:00. In my head, I said no one would care if I missed this breakfast. And I'd get to sleep. But I'd asked and I really did want to go to the event. Plus, I was hungry.
So I dragged myself out of bed, threw together an outfit and hoofed it to the Sheraton. I found the room and hopped into the buffet line, figuring that by the time I got through it, everyone would have sat down and I'd be able to find a seat. I ended up standing behind Wil LaVeist, a former columnist at the Daily Press (the local paper in my college town) and we chatted it up about Hampton, his move away and back to the tidewater area (he now works for the Virginian-Pilot) and how I'm finding Providence. There was a vacant seat at his table, so we continued the chat over eggs and OJ.
The conversation, led by founder Dorothy Butler Gilliam (formerly of the Washington Post), centered on the changing industry and what our product and the journalists of tomorrow should look like. Among the highlights:
- In your newsroom, there should not be a newspaper division and a Web division, Sulzberger said. With the emphasis on the Internet as it is today, there should be one person coordinating the news and web postings for each section. Not one person coordinating the news and another posting it to the web. (Interesting because my paper is definitely set up with two distinct divisions)
- People have been predicting the death of newspapers for the last 10 years. But at the Times, Sulzberger said, the circulation has nearly doubled in recent years. While print readers have remained stagnant, the number of online readers has increased steadily.
- The average person spends 35 minutes a day with the paper; the average online reader spends 35 minutes a month on a newspaper Web site, he said. To survive, we have to find out how to make sites "stickier" so people will spend more time there.
- As we learn more about shooting video, writing stories and collecting audio, always remember the product. The tools are nice, but just remember you are using them to create quality work -- they shouldn't take away from that main goal.
- The Times is doing a great job with hiring minorities in its Web division, but those minorities are overwhelmingly Asian. They need a larger pool of qualified applicants from ALL backgrounds (hint: if you're trying to get in at the NYT, get your multimedia on).
I learned something else today, too. Sulzberger is pretty funny. He's a likeable guy -- at least from afar. Seems like it would be pretty cool to sit down to a cup of coffee with him.
Well, I at least got close to it today, just because I asked.
Labels: internships, Job survival, musings, NABJ, unity
continue...Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Live from Chicago, it's Ten95!
It's time for Unity! I'm finally in the Windy City, chillaxin' with fellow Ten95er Aaron in the Hyatt Regency as we wait for the for the rest of the crew to arrive (or for Marcus to answer his phone).It's not even noon yet, and already we're overwhelmed with what the week has in store for us. Receptions, parties, lunches, brunches and dinners... and that's just in the first two days!
But my primary focus right now is a Saturday afternoon workshop called Paying it Forward: How to Maximize Your Internship. No, I won't be among those in the audience taking notes. I'll be on the other side of the podium instead, running the show as moderator.
Yeah. Someone put me in charge.
There will be another member of the Ten95 Brat Pack right there with me too. Talia is one of our panelists, along with fellow young journos Marlon Walker and Chloe Hilliard, and veteran recruiters Joe Grimm and Doug Mitchell. (And you can probably count on seeing the rest of our cohorts causing trouble somewhere in the room.)
But there's a bit of a dilemma: We have six professionals with one very important subject to talk about. And we only 90 minutes in which to talk about it.
Clearly -- and regrettably -- we won't be able to cover everything we want in just one session.
Thank goodness for the blog. The Ten95 crew is jumping on the internship advice bandwagon and will be posting on the subject throughout the convention. (And maybe, if we're lucky, our esteemed recruiters will even guest blog. *wink wink, nudge nudge*) That way, we have a place to share all the wisdom that time won't allow on Saturday, as well as all the reeeeeally, reeeeeally important stuff that does make it into the discussion, and that's worth discussing again.
So while you take in the sights of the Chi, be sure to keep one eye glued to this space for internship advice and all kinds of other Ten95 coverage from Unity. Happy Convention!
Labels: convention, internships, unity
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