I would first like to thank you for all of the resources you have provided for young journalists. This site has proved invaluable.
I will be graduating with my bachelor's degree in May of 2008, and I am getting nervous about my career. I have applied for several print internships, but I have been turned down by all of them. I worked for my school paper for two school years as a news reporter and one semester as an opinion columnist.
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This semester, I started as a staff writer for a local weekly paper. My mother passed away earlier this year, and I was forced to quit the school paper and take the weekly job. Anyway, I have not been offered any internships at newspapers, but I have been offered one at a local TV station, which I am a little leery about taking after reading on your site about the taboo of double-dipping in different media. And, I want to work at a newspaper anyway. So, the TV internship could prove pointless. My questions are: Do you think I should pass on the TV internship? And what do you think my chances are for finding a reporting job after graduation with experience at an award-winning school paper and a local weekly but no print internships? Thanks for all of your help.
Career Jitters in Texas
Time marches on and that advice, which I wrote a couple years ago,
needs to be updated.
In recent years, as you know, newsrooms are learning to publish audio and video online. Experiences that used to make newspaper editors wonder which path you were following now make you a strong candidate with diverse experiences.
I would take that TV internship and learn as much as I could about shooting, producing, storyboarding -- you name it. It can only help you.
Coming Friday: This reporter, God love him, is concerned about unfilled openings on the copy desk and wonders what is going on.
