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Calling All Journalists!

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20:39 / 02.12.05

Hello Everyone.

At the ripe old age of 17 I have decided that I want to write for a living. I know I will always write fiction, and whether it gets published or not, I will always continue to do so. But the reason I started this topic, is because I want to be a Journalist. With my Obsessive Compulsive nature, I tend to deliberate and overanalyze many topics, so I believe that I have all of the necessary traits required to become a journalist of quality: creativity, an analytical eye, people skills, and a lust for the truth. Plus I don't sleep very much.

So, any Journalithers, Barbewriters, and hell, even bloggers, feel free to post here. Tell me about the trade. Tell me what I need to do to get my foot in the door. Tell me your tips and tricks and tales. The ups, the downs, the ins and the outs, I want to hear it all, and I want to hear from all of you.

20:40 / 02.12.05

Sleep with editors and drug their coffee.

ONLY NICE THINGS

21:15 / 02.12.05

Pay attention in English class. No, honest.

21:16 / 02.12.05

No, no, no. Sleep with editors, take the drugs yourself. Makes what you write more interesting.
Sometimes, your writing becomes incomprehensible, but that doesn't matter, since you're sleeping with the editor.

I'll leave the useful comments to the rest of you.

21:41 / 02.12.05

Most importantly, keep your comics in a safe.

22:01 / 02.12.05

Pay attention in English class. Listen to Kindly Uncle Haus. You seem to be doing bloody well already on the spelling and grammar front though. Puts you in the top tenth percentile, Barbelith-wise.

What are you going to study when you finish High School?

22:24 / 02.12.05

Well looky looky yonder.

05:45 / 03.12.05

Pay attention in English class

Would it also help to sleep with my English teacher?

Most importantly, keep your comics in a safe.

Alex, you know I already do that.

What are you going to study when you finish High School?

English major, for sure. I'm also taking German, and am looking into a Radio and Television program at this college.

Now, lets hear some interesting journalistic tales. Tell me about the frontlines, people!

05:50 / 03.12.05

You seem to be doing bloody well already on the spelling and grammar front

A little bit of Xoc per day keeps low self-esteem far away.

Thank you, Xoc.

20:21 / 03.12.05

Oh, come on! I know some of you are journalists!

20:34 / 03.12.05

Stealth journalists. They all have deep throats.

21:06 / 03.12.05

We're a quiet bunch.
I think luck, perseverance and being called Jocasta or Trevelyn (or Butch or Killer, depending on whther you want to be features or news) helps more than anything else.
Being less cynical, I would suggest sticking with an standard undergrad course (there's no substitute for a good education and subsidised booze at an early age) and just send a shitload of unsolicited stuff to local papers: the worst they can do is ignore it.
Also, learn to be critical of any opinion you come across (including your own) and don't even think of trying to be clever, witty or stylish until you've got the basics of grammar and punctuation down pat (spelling is less important, believe it or not). Journalism is supposed to be about communication: telling people stuff that is true is far more important than being seen to be a good writer. The style stuff (and the licence to use the word "I" comes much later).
On journalism courses: no-one gives a stuff what result you get, or even whether you pass, doing them to learn the craft (and it is a craft, not an art) is the important thing.

21:58 / 03.12.05

You also have to think about whether you're outgoing/ pushy enough - do you mind going up to complete strangers and asking them questions? When you know they'd rather you didn't? Can you make friends with people so they'll trust you and talk to you? Are you tough enough to write stuff that people don't want you to?
Those are all the aspects that I found hardest - and sometimes still do. Writing it up is the fun, easy bit - getting the stories is where the work lies.

06:36 / 04.12.05

Now, when you are covering news events, like some of the darker, sadder stuff...does it ever get overwhelming? Will I become jaded after a while?

And what are some of the specific journalistic fields you journalithers pursue? Strictly news articles, video-gaming, sports...etc?

And as for openings...Hell, if Wizard staffers can make a living writing about comic books, then I'm thinking that there are always going to be jobs available in this career. Is there validity in that statement?

(And I would love having my own comics published. And then I could write about them, and give myself a good review. Oddman's got a plan).

But the above questions really are quite pressing, to me.

07:07 / 04.12.05

I've never done straight news reporting - I've always been a business/technology writer, so I've avoided that stuff. I don't think I could do it. Plus my one experience of working in a daily news room, even as a business editor, wasn't much fun - I guess I'm just a wimpy trade journo. But I'm being paid to stay in a very nice hotel in Shanghai at the moment, so I'm happy with my job...

07:11 / 04.12.05

Yes, you will become jaded (or) live in a constant state of crisis. You have to separate your life and emotions from your work.
I have a bit of fun covering courthouse proceedings and whatnot.

There will always be jobs open in the field.

I don’t recommend writing reviews on your own comics, because it will discredit you as a journalist, conflict of interests.

And listen, about that school you are thinking of going to, I think that you should reconsider.

find yourself a small college town with a weekly county paper and get yourself an internship, work hard ask questions all day, work your way up to be a staff writer within a year.

Join the college newspaper staff, learn the shit jobs: distribution, go to boy, ect.

After a few months, AND I MEAN after a few months, don’t get to pushy or eager, start asking editors, one at a time, if they would teach you about what they do.

Learn copy editing, layout, learn to shoot pictures.

After a year at the weekly county paper, and a year of learning all sorts of stuff at the school paper (and making yourself useful and valuable at both places) you will be due for some comeupins.

I did the previously stated list, and became the editor-and-chief of my college paper after one year, I recommend it for you too.

Curb your enthusiasm a bit. Be chill, laid back, and know when to strike, the field of Journalism is fucking cut-throat, and if you come a crossed as someone with too much drive someone else that is trying to protect their interests might feel threatened.

Good luck, I think that you are fishing in the right place here at the Barb, stick around for long enough and you will learn more about writing, journalism, people and politics than you might imagine.

18:57 / 04.12.05

There's some seriously good advice here, guys and gals. I really appreciate it.

Now, about the financial end of things...

Am I going to be starving but loving my job? Or is there ever the opportunity of making some serious coin? And who pays the most? Internationally circulated Newspapers? Flashy Magazines? Websites?

19:17 / 04.12.05

sleep with your english teacher anyway.

21:29 / 04.12.05

In the U.S. you can count on making between 40,000 and 60,000 if you can get on at a good daily as a regular writer.

I dont know much magazine pay,

but realize that with the ability to write, and a printed portfolio you can take your freelance work and bring in an extra 1000 a month without too much work.

22:28 / 04.12.05

So, what are some good methods of practice...You know, to keep that writing switch turned on. Should I blog daily or something to that effect?

22:42 / 04.12.05

UK pay for reporters starts at around £14-16K for a national. I would guess locals are minimum wage or less (lots of unpaid undeclared overtime). If you want a tiny bit of security look into sub-editing. The pay is slightly better and the work is regular. You also get the satisfaction of ensuring the worst excesses of bad writing (that is, what all but a handful of journalists write) get tidied up before being unleashed on the public.

semioticrobotic

23:29 / 04.12.05

I've worked as a reporter for my hometown newspaper for half a decade now, but am slowly working my way out of journalism and into academe.

I actually began writing for the newspaper's teen section when I was only 13 (come Wednesday, that will have been a whole 10 years ago), worked my way into the Features department, covering human interest stuff, and loving it all.

Then I spent a summer cityside. I went to my first murder scene. Then another one. I did not enjoy it. Or what it made me become.

Ender's advice is all great, particularly the bits that pertain to learning about as many aspects of the newspaper biz as possible. Work your way around the newsroom floor. Consolidation is a big trend in an industry that consistently shrinks annually (referring specifically to newspaper reporting -- the only area of reporting in which I can offer advice). However, there's never been a bigger demand for good ol' fashioned hometown reporters who can cover a beat and stay on the local pulse. People can't get hometown news on cable networks. Depending on where you live, chances are good there won't be many blogs covering your municipality. Local papers need staff members, but their limited budgets mean those staff members have to be able to do more. During my last stint at the newspaper, I was conducting interviews, writing stories, videotaping sources for Web site video clips, and orchestrating design packages to accompany my stories.

Therefore, I echo Ender's insistence on finding a college close to a paper on which you can cut your teeth. As previously noted, journalism is a craft and needs to be done. You can't always do when you're in a structured, insulated college setting.

23:55 / 04.12.05

Well said,

06:20 / 05.12.05

Yes. Such a huge chunk of reporting these days is lifted straight off the wires and teh interweb that every extra body on the streets actually talking to people is important. If you want a bit of a practical ethical compass, I'd have a look as The Elements of Journalism by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel. It's a bit dry, but helps reinforce what the whole enterprise is about.

06:22 / 05.12.05

yeah those fucking wires! great for the biz but terrible for the actual reporters on the street! That means us oddman, learn everything, and dont get downsized.

11:40 / 05.12.05

Get used to writing in your spare time. In order to "be a journalist", you're going to spend a lot of time doing not a lot of writing.

Write every day for yourself, sure. No editor will care about your blog, though, I'd put money on it.

Pay attention in English class. The better your raw copy, the easier you are to deal with.

ONLY NICE THINGS

12:15 / 05.12.05

My father used to beat me across the knuckles, screaming as he did so "Capitals and commas! Capitals and commas!"

I hated him at the time, but now it feels a bit like love.

14:50 / 05.12.05

It's a shit business.

15:26 / 05.12.05

Why not become a scapegoat for everyone else's mistakes, or "subeditor" as some magazines call the role...

15:40 / 05.12.05

Editing? Hardest game in the world, son, hardest game in the world...

15:51 / 05.12.05

dont get too down, realize you have just heard from a number of people that love what they do and have converged at the watercooler of the Barb to lament at how unapreciated we all are. The biz rocks, you have a fun career in your future. And by joining our ranks now you are getting in on the cutting edge of what many of us think is going to be the new face of journalism.

ONLY NICE THINGS

15:53 / 05.12.05

The face of Steve.

I'm sorry, I couldn't stop myself. Now there's all mess.

16:02 / 05.12.05

Look out Barbelith, the Steve Phenomenon is leaking out of its proper thread!

16:53 / 05.12.05

Well, it can fuck off right out of this one. Away with you, threadrotters.

ONLY NICE THINGS

17:04 / 05.12.05

Welcome to the Conversation, Cube. Steve's been here a while. He'll show you around.

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