<p>I have worked in the broadcast television arena for many years–though not on air. I would suggest that while getting experience at the college station is valuable, it would be more valuable to get an internship (paid or not) at a local station (radio/tv/cable.) A former classmate of mine started out at a dinky local station as an on-air weekend weatherperson working for no pay during college and shortly after graduation worked her way up to news anchor in a major market–she was driven and quite bright, as well as charming and lovely to look at. It’s a highly competitive field and it takes a lot of energy and persistence to get on air. I’m on the east coast so I know many people who graduated from Syracuse, BC, NYU and OU and a few from BU and even Ithaca in the biz here. All it takes sometimes is finding an exec who will give entry to interns from his/her alma mater–it happens a lot–connections are almost everything in the broadcast field. You’ll find that to be true in LA, as well. Just know that very few make it on air, but there are many jobs behind the scenes that are lucrative and exciting for a skilled individual. For example, I have a friend who is a producer for network evening news who travels all over the world–some might find this just as stimulating as on air reporting. The good thing about these college “media” programs is that you get a chance to explore all facets of the business and it opens up other possibilities that haven’t been considered before.</p>
<p>“have worked in the broadcast television arena for many years–though not on air. I would suggest that while getting experience at the college station is valuable, it would be more valuable to get an internship (paid or not) at a local station (radio/tv/cable.”</p>
<p>My experience as a former college journalism professor was that even though the vast majority of broadcast internships are unpaid – they still are highly competitive, and it’s next to impossible for a student to get such an internship without having some kind of campus media experience. </p>
<p>Without some kind of paid or unpaid internship experience, it’s virtually impossible to get a job in broadcast, even when one has stellar grades and is willing to work in tiny markets and take the very low pay that beginning broadcast jobs offer.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, one thing for the OP to keep in mind is that most college students change their majors at least twice in college due to being exposed to other fields, and also finding out the reality of their initial choice isn’t something that they enjoy. Consequently, in selecting a college, it would be good if your D considered more aspects of it than its journalism program.</p>
<p>Given that magazines/newspapers and print media are going the way of dinosaurs–what does the future hold for a journalism major today? Writing for a blog?</p>
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<p>Northstarmom - I am curious, just what type of pay does beginning broadcast jobs offer (both on air and behnind the scenes) (ie how low is very low?)</p>
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<p>Yes - I wondered that myself. For my D, I wonder if she would be better off focusing more on the public relations or advertising subfileds of communications rather than broadcasting or journalism</p>
<p>berryberry - salaries depend on experience and size of market. Most reporters (even graduates of elite journalism programs) start out in tiny TV markets in the middle of nowhere earning considerably less than $40K per year. Their shifts are often on overnights and/or weekends. Many change jobs frequently, moving up in market-size/salary/visibility as they gain experience. </p>
<p>Journalism is also an effective route to public relations/communications jobs. Many PR/corporate communications departments are staffed by former journalists because - by nature of their prior jobs - they’re excellent writers, speakers, they work well under pressure and tight deadlines, and understand how media works.</p>
<p>There have been 4 or 5 schools repeatedly named here that I’m sure are fine schools. There are 6 or 8 others mentioned too that are probably fine.
Even a company in the business of selling school rankings has been quoted here for their school rankings.</p>
<p>I’d urge the OP to look at 20 or so of the journalists most admired in a similar position that student wants. Be realistic, too. A tv newswoman doesn’t have to be CBS’s Katie C; there are also local tv newswomen (for example). Once those 20 are found do research and see where they graduated. Crap, I remember when Debra(?) Norville was fired for being too pretty. So don’t just look at only the very tip-top in the nation that have jobs D might want. If all of those 20 went to Mizzou for example, then clearly that is the school to attend. But if you find a great variety of schools, and some without <em>big-names</em> attached then you’ll know much more about journalism schools.</p>
<p>I am mostly posting this so i can find this thread later, but thought i would share this. Any thoughts about certificate programs like this?</p>
<p>[Policy</a> Journalism and Media Studies](<a href=“http://registrar.duke.edu/bulletins/undergraduate/2007-08/ugbhtml/UGBHTML-12-088.html]Policy”>http://registrar.duke.edu/bulletins/undergraduate/2007-08/ugbhtml/UGBHTML-12-088.html)</p>
<p>“Northstarmom - I am curious, just what type of pay does beginning broadcast jobs offer (both on air and behnind the scenes) (ie how low is very low?)”</p>
<p>Link to journalists’ salaries, including starting salaries: [PayScale</a> - Journalist Salary, Average Journalist Salaries](<a href=“http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Journalist/Salary]PayScale”>Journalist Salary in 2024 | PayScale)</p>
<p>While anchors and news directors in large markets can make lots of money, starting salaries in broadcast journalism are low, typically lower than in print journalism or PR. All sorts of layoffs are happening in the journalism field, too, because of competition from the Internet and the recession.</p>
<p>FWIW, I know several of my fellow NU grads who are now either on-air reporters or have migrated to behind-the-scenes producing / directing. It is glamorous (at first) to be on air, but don’t underestimate that many who start out wanting to be on-air wind up wanting to do something behind-the-scenes (just like many who start out wanting to be actors wind up doing stage management, lighting, sound design, etc.).</p>
<p>Yes, the substantive work of selecting, researching, reporting, and shaping stories is generally done by people called “producers” in the TV news biz, not necessarily the on-air talent. Also, in a lot of local news structures, it’s the cameramen and -women who actually report the stories. Then an editorial decision gets made whether to have the anchors read it or to present it as the work of an on-site reporter, and in the latter case they send the appropriate spokesmodel out to record his or her three-minute bit on location.</p>
<p>Hi! This is my first post although I have been lurking for some time. Thanks to the OP for starting this thread as it applies to my son as well. Also, thanks to all who have contributed their input.</p>
<p>Digmedia: My son is visiting Scripps at Ohio Univ. this week. Can I PM you with questions? My son will be oos and I was interested in your comments about merit scholarships. Thanks!</p>
<p>In media so much depends on who you know and where you are.</p>
<h1>1 CA> Hawaii for an aspiring LA reporter: Bigger Media Markets, More Outlets</h1>
<p>If you know you want to end up as a reporter in NYC for example make sure you apply to programs and schools squarely in the area which make internships feasible I.E. New School, NYU, Columbia, Hunter. Same if aiming for LA -someone can give better geographic guidance but you’d certainly want to have proximity to that media market or an adjacent one which would seem to suggest not attending Hawaii Pacific U. Pound for pound the opportunities probably just aren’t as great in Hawaii as in CA.</p>
<p>Key Point #2 Mind the school rep: Do they turn out writers/journalists?</p>
<p>Seek schools with reputations for churning out writers/artsy kids - Don’t underestimate the alumni network of a place in helping a grad get their feet wet. It’s hard to break into the industry but, if there is passion, there is a place for someone. </p>
<p>Don’t overlook liberal arts colleges as possibilities</p>
<p>Key Point #3 Reporters pay a LOT of dues.</p>
<p>Usually, they go from a tiny media market to a bigger one to major one if luck and talent make it so. But, realize that process takes a lot of time and requires dedication.</p>
<p>Key Point #3.5 Media folks do it because they love it - not for the $</p>
<p>Reporters lead fascinating lives but, it requires making it a top priority</p>
<p>I didn’t see what area of reporting she wanted to go into but, I know DC offers political types a lot of semester-journalism immersion experiences too.</p>
<p>The raw ingredients of a good reporter are:
-good writing, curiosity,
-a quiet sense of indignation about things
-a good background in a subject area
- respectful moxie</p>
<p>Work on developing those qualities!</p>
<p>Just .02 from someone still a rookie in the field so DD advised</p>
<p>As I mentioned before, most college students change majors at least twice. In college, they are exposed to more fields, and find out the realities of the careers that they thought they were interested in.</p>
<p>If your daughter is interested in current events, likes to read, likes to write and can write quickly, and enjoys doing research and asking tough questions, then journalism may be the field for her particularly if she likes to work hard on deadline.</p>
<p>When I taught journalism, lots of students were attracted to broadcast journalism because they wanted to see themselves on TV as anchors. They didn’t like to read, weren’t interested in current events, and didn’t like to write. They also didn’t respond well to tight deadlines.</p>
<p>Broadcast journalism requires quick writing and reporting skills. For instance, one former midsized market anchor whom I know got her start covering a 5 county area of Georgia. She used to have to cover about 9-10 stories a day. This required a lot of fast writing, assertive reporting, and excellent thinking skills.</p>
<p>Someone else I know is a well known TV sports reporter. She reads about 5 newspapers a day and gets up at about 4 a.m. to start reading.</p>
<p>It’s not a field for the passive or overly relaxed type of person, and it’s definitely not a field for people who don’t enjoy current events or asking tough questions.</p>
<p>Want to echo NSM’s comment that majors & interests can change so best to work on the nuts and bolts of good writing and interviewing which are important and also transferable.</p>
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<p>Journalism will survive, but it will be different. Gone are the days of specializing in print or photography or broadcast. Most future journalists will do it all, covering an event with keyboards, smart phones, video cams, cameras, audio, etc… More students are enrolling as journalism majors and entering journalism grad schools than ever. It’s a very exciting time to be an up and coming journalist. Not so exciting to be a publisher or a member of the old guard clinging to their jobs.</p>
<p>Can someone comment on Journalism as an undergrad vs graduate student? Is one better than the other? Are graduate programs usually paid for? I’m not even sure what I mean by that, but I seem to have gotten the impression here on CC, that non-law, non-medicine grad schools may not require additional expense, and/or may include a small stipend.</p>
<p>love the name fredmurtz. So similar to the I Love Lucy character.</p>
<p>Often times, an employer will pay for all or part of a grad school for his employee. Sometimes it’s conditional on the grade, or an employees’ promise to stay with the employer.</p>
<p>When it comes to journalism, the field is so broke that people are having a hard time hanging on to their jobs. It’s highly unlikely that an employer would pay for grad school. Some of the journalists whom I know are paying for grad school themselves so they can switch fields.</p>
<p>shrinkwrap – there’s a mixed opinion about graduate work in journalism. Top programs - Missouri, Berkeley, Columbia, Syracuse, Northwestern and a few others - do offer graduate degrees which look good on a resume and later are helpful if the graduate wants to, say, go into university-level teaching. Graduate degrees are also helpful in landing a job with the very top newspapers (NY Times, etc.) But many working journalists - in TV especially - do not have a graduate degree and would argue it’s not necessary. What really counts is experience, your scoops, your sample “tape,” your awards. An Emmy or a Peabody will trump a master’s degree any day! </p>
<p>Finally, having worked in a respected TV newsroom for years, I noticed that some of the most successful journalists there did not study journalism AT ALL. (Many top schools don’t have undergraduate journalism programs - Yale and Berkeley, for example.) There were English, history and poli sci majors who wrote for their school papers and used that as an entry into the field. One multi Emmy-award-winning journalist now working for a leading TV news magazine was an urban studies major. </p>
<p>Personally, I would advise a prospective journalist that a top undergraduate program is nice, but not strictly necessary. I’d advise a large school with lots of options for different majors and a good school paper. I would also advise summer internships and – these days being what they are – a blog, where you polish your writing skills and work with emerging online technology, a crucial skill.</p>
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<p>My H’s company is working on a project that is going to be featured on a PBS news program. H was surprised to learn that the people producing the segement on his project weren’t employees of PBS–they were from a private production company that a UPenn professor had started. This production company contracted with PBS to produce science-related stories; the folks who interviewed H and others told them that most of the young people working for the company were bio, chemistry, or geology majors–only a few had media training.</p>