Q: I'm putting together my clips and realizing this: over the years, I've heard that I'm supposed to submit my "best," most interesting clips. I feel like most of those stories fall in the same genre: profiles.
However, I've also heard that I'm supposed to submit a range of clips -- breaking news, enterprise, feature, etc. Should I submit less interesting stories that fit in those categories?
Alice
A: For most newspaper jobs, the advice you've been hearing is correct. Newspapers hire generalists. Even within some beats, such as fairly commonplace geographic beats, newspapers need people who can do a variety of story types.
If you are applying for a topical beat, however, or, in your case, a profile-writing job, a more focused batch of clips would work.
