<p>It is a very fun career when you are young. It can still be fun when you’re “old” but then you are “seasoned” and you don’t have to run around quite as much or you go to work for a company in communications/PR or you pick and choose. I will say my friends male and female who went into print exclusively are suffering hugely. And for the most part they aren’t slouches with NYT, SI, AP and all kinds of great credentials from decades in the industry. I’m not sure how that industry will survive or morph right now.</p>
<p>I’m going to make another thread concerning my interests and print journalism. Thanks Northstarmom!</p>
<p>Thank you all for the expert advice…but now I’m getting a little worried about her and her career possibilities. Although she has never worked for a school TV station (though, she’s trying to land an internship at our local city’s station right), she’s always been active in Speech & Debate, theatre, and the like. She is currently her college’s Associate Student Government’s Executive Officer of Marketing & Information, as well as the news publication’s editor-in-chief. Those kind of experiences are definitely helpful, right? </p>
<p>Professors, employers, and intern supervisors alike have always told her she has this “it” factor. Her college counselor actually suggested she look into majoring in Broadcast Journalism and my daughter just laughed because apparently people always tell her that she looks like she’d be a journalist. I know their opinions don’t necessarily matter, but I hope people are right. :)</p>
<p>Virtually any experiences, ECs, jobs, etc. would be helpful to someone who plans to become a journalist. That’s because journalists need to know about virtually everything and be able to relate to virtually everyone to get information for their stories. The ECs that your D has reflect assertiveness, an interest in the world in general, and they are ECs that would help your D develop skills that would be of use in journalism. Most high schools lack TV stations and even student newspapers, so don’t worry about her not being able to be active in high school media.</p>
<p>Unless she plans to go to grad school for journalism, however, it will be essential that she attend a college with a DAILY student newspaper (that’s typically where even aspiring broadcast journalists develop their writing and reporting skills). It would be beneficial if the school also had some kind of broadcast opportunities for students. </p>
<p>Career possibilities for anyone – no matter how talented – are dismal, but the skills that one develops in journalism or as a journalism major – are extremely useful for entering other fields, including ones that pay better and have more jobs.</p>
<p>I’ve been a journalism prof, and have worked extensively in the field as a professional. It’s very rare for high school students to be able to land any kind of internship in TV. Typically, even the most talented and assertive students aren’t able to land TV internships until they are rising college seniors, but your D should keep trying. She probably, though, would have better chances of getting some kind of internship/shadowing opportunity at a community weekly newspaper. In trying to get such an opportunity, she should not mention her interest in being a broadcast journalist since typically people in newspapers want to help students enter print journalism.</p>
<p>Has your daughter considered modeling? If she is the right height and has an “it” factor, perhaps modeling is a way she could make some extra money. As always, any experience --even modeling – can be useful to an aspiring journalist since journalists have to cover all kinds of stories.</p>
<p>One place where our local high schoolers often get experience is at the local access station at the cable company. They’re always looking for volunteers to train to work in the studio, and one of the local groups even runs classes.</p>
<p>You have a right to be worried about career opportunities, as there are only around 200 TV markets in the nation, with about 3-4 stations in each producing news. There are not many jobs, and layoffs are rampant right now.But, if she is very determined it is always a possibility to try to get a job in the field.
I agree, don’t worry that she doesn’t have experience in high school. The field changes quickly, and the professional stations will be a better place to learn her craft.Make sure your daughter attends a college where they have a broadcast station or program where she can get hands-on experience.Nothing like staring at a deadline for a nightly show to teach you how to think and write quickly.I agree with the above, that internships are hard to come by before late in college, so don’t worry about that right now. If you can set aside some cash so your child can move to, and intern in a small market, that would be wonderful as she’d get more chances to be on-air for stories for her resume tape.
In college, print Journalism skills will be helpful, but the fields are different.Learning how to shoot and edit might be more worth her time and make her more employable in TV news. It is possible to move within the ranks at a station by first becoming an editor or photographer.With the size of cameras and live technology becoming available on cell phones, the perception is TV journalists may all be “one man bands” very soon. She can always gain these skills at a local cable access station without needing an internship.
There is an increasing trend towards hiring professionals such as physicians and lawyers to provide reporting, so having an expertise could not hurt. One of the best news directors I ever worked for encouraged me to become a business reporter. A dirty little secret of journalists is many times they aren’t so great at math, is why they gravitate towards communications majors! )A double major or minor in business or economics would be a great way to make sure your daughter has a niche she could fill on air, but also some skills to help her if she moved to another line of work.Knowing about government is always helpful. A very successful anchor I knew had a political science degree, and had spent a term as a senate page. That helped her land many jobs.<br>
You are doing a great job as a parent to be asking questions, and to gain a realistic idea of employment in that field. Your support will mean a lot to your child as she tries try to break into a very challenging, yet rewarding business…</p>
<p>The University of Cincinnati has a program under their Conservatory of Music that is called Electronic Media…my niece just graduated and had an internship/co-op at CNN in Atlanta. She is going to law school this fall.</p>
<p>A friend of mine was a journalism major. Her senior year, Jane Pauley came to speak at her University. She said Jane told them if you want to be a journalist, don’t major in journalism - major in something else so that you will have a knowledge base about what you want to report on (political science, for example). My friend thought, “Great, NOW she tells me!”</p>
<p>Times have really changed since Jane Pauley days, though.</p>
<p>early-college: Print journalism is a whole different story because: 1) good expository prose is a dying art. Most college grads simply do not write well enough to be a print journalist. You have to be a really good writer (grammer, style, punctuation, vocab., etc.) You have to be able to edit your own copy. 2) Aside from the art, there is a real science to it as well - who? what? where? when? and why + deadlines are not bs. You can’t just throw it in the teleprompter and read it well and you cannot just explain it on the air conversationally. 3) You do not have to be beautiful. Being beautiful has big upside in tv and there is such a thing as a radio voice. Some people are just born with it. 4) Newspapers and magazines are dying. I fear for the morning when my newspaper does not land on my driveway - that day is coming soon. I am not convinced that the economic model for internet journalism is going to reward great writers and sound journalists - I hope I am wrong. Good luck - have a back-up plan.</p>
<p>Lots of good advice here and I second everything that Northstarmom has to say. I’ve been in the print business for 30-plus years and here are the characteristics of those I hire for jobs or internships:</p>
<p>–good writing, editing and face-to-face communication skills
–a passion to know more about the world we live in and a passion to tell stories about what they learn
– they have had as many internships (love Dow Jones) as possible during college and learned real-life skills
– they understand that the hours are long and that nights and weekends are part of the deal.
– they are self-starters and goal oriented. They dont watch the clock.
– they are flexible and willing to learn new skills to succeed. Today it is SEO, who knows what it will be in a few years
–they realize they will never get rich in this business , but they love it anyway</p>
<p>If this sounds like you and you still love journalism, then go for it! If not, you might want to keep thinking about careers.</p>