Labels: newsrooms, young journalists

Two of my friends are doing what a lot of people wish they could do if they only had the nerve.



They quit their jobs and travelled to a foreign country. They will live there for anywhere from 6 months until forever, telling the stories of the people they meet there.



No deadlines. No health insurance. No line counts. Just stories.



John Sutter, a former reporter at the Oklahoman, has set up shop in Madagascar.

Jessie Bonner, a former reporter at The Naples Daily News, calls Guatemala her home.



They are chronicling their travels at Post-A-Card, a Web site they've set up. The premise is based on a seminar we all attended a few years ago at Poynter. All the space you need to tell a good story can be found on the back of a post card.



These two are great journalists and it would be an understatement to say that I'm a little bit jealous of them.



Check out their work and submit some post cards of your own. I know I will.

After all, everyone has a story to tell.

Labels: journalism, young journalists

Andrew Donohue is executive editor of voiceofsandiego.org, a nonprofit, independent online newspaper focused on issues impacting the San Diego region. According to the organization's funding description, the publication is the only professionally staffed, nonprofit online news site in the state focused on local news and issues. Donohue oversees news coverage and reports on local politics. He also won the 2006 Sigma Delta Chi Award for Online Investigative Reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists. Donohue's examination of an affordable housing program in San Diego abused by participants and contractors showed "the value of cultivating sources and displaying integrity," according to contest judges quoted by SPJ. "Goes beyond just good reporting in dimension, documentation and results."



Bobbi Bowman is diversity director for the American Society of Newspaper Editors, one of the most active professional journalism organizations in North America. Recent printed works include articles on immigration and diversity issues for the San Francisco Chronicle and The Poynter Institute.

Labels: diversity, editors, education, gljjif2007, media, multimedia, newspapers, online, video, young journalists

In the courtroom, I almost lost my objectivity - and my lunch.

For the last few weeks, I sat in courtroom 4E at the Kent County Courthouse, chronicling the ups and downs of the murder trial of James Richardson, accused of killing Margaret Duffy-Stephenson in 2005.

I sit across the aisle from the family. A seat behind the defendant has my name on it. I chat with the family members about the climate in the courtroom, and joke that maybe tomorrow, I'll bring my parka.

I'm the only reporter who's been in the courtroom since day one. I sat through the motions to suppress, jury selection and opening statements. I detailed testimony in tight stories for the next day's paper. I made corrections when the family pointed out mistakes.

But mostly, I listened.

I listened when Margaret's coworkers told about how their friend was a great teacher's aide and always willing to help someone. I listened when her husband, James Stephenson III, told us about the last time he hugged his wife. I listened when her father told the court that when he found his only daughter covered in blood at the bottom of the stairs, he reached over and touched her face.

So when the prosecution showed a photo of Margaret's wounds on the projector screen in the courtoom, I almost lost it. My mouth gaped open as I stared at her wounds. I swallowed hard as the medical examiner explained Margaret's killer had cut her throat so deeply her backbone was visible through the hole in her neck. Of the 11 wounds on Margaret's body, more than half were stab wounds.

My stomach started to churn.

I looked at those pictures and no longer was Margaret just another victim in another homicide. She was Margaret. The mother of Robert. A teacher's aide at a local elementary school. The only daughter amongst a gaggle of brothers. That was Margaret's body on the autopsy table.

I glanced over at the family when the pictures went up - instinct. To my left, Margaret's sister in law was visibly shaken, tears streaming down her face. Her husband - Margaret's brother - comforted her.

I glanced down at the wooden pew, almost ashamed for having witnessed the family at such a vulnerable time. I took a deep breath and focused on the notes I was writing. I had a job to do.

After court recessed for the day, I went to my car and stared out the windshield in silence. It was all I could do to hold back the tears.

Labels: courts, ethics, young journalists

I know it's a competitive market for career growth in this field, but our generation needs to take the lead in teaching younger students -- even now, while we're still technically competing for entry-level jobs ourselves.

That's why I find this offer from the Winston-Salem Journal to be very encouraging. If you're working or interning at a media outlet, see if your editor has a similar program. If not, think about starting one.

Labels: clips, college_media, editors, education, internships, journalism, portfolio, skills, teens, young journalists

This past weekend I attended the SPJ Region 4 conference in Detroit and bought my new favorite book, "The Dictionary of Concise Writing" by Robert Hartwell Fiske. I'm not usually the type to give free advertising but this book is wonderful.

I, like many young journalists, have a bad case of the wordiness. This dictionary is the solution. It allows you to look up more than 10,000 wordy phrases and find less cumbersome words to replace them. Some examples: "many" or "numerous" instead of "a lot of" and "disagree with" or "oppose" instead of "not in favor of." This book is my new best friend and I know I'll be passing it around the newsroom.

Labels: clips, education, journalism, skills, writing tips, young journalists

For most student journalists, the dreamy goal that drew us into this major was writing or broadcasting for some big, extravagant city newspaper or television station. But at the end of 2006, those were the media outlets going through more financial pains than any other in the U.S.

And so it makes a late January piece by the Poynter Institute, titled "Tighter Budgets Slashing Internships," all the more logical. Big metro papers especially are reporting cuts to their internship programs for 2007, unlike any in recent memory. Metro tv news stations aren't making the same slashes, primarily because broadcast journalism students have been willing to work unpaid internships for much longer than print students have (click the title link above to read the complete story, in all its grueling, interesting detail).

We could debate why it's foolish for these papers to cut intern slots -- they're basically failing to train us youngsters properly, and we're the people who may feasibly bring new ideas that could save their sorry butts. But let's focus on what we can control: Pursuing the internships that are available, and learning how to separate ourselves from the pack, in an ever-growing crowd of competition.

Since the mid-1990's, the number of students who've majored in journalism nationwide has increased every single year, through today in 2006-07. That's odd don't ya think? It directly contrasts the dwindling job openings, as this profession goes through a big transition. Most of these students come in dreaming of being the next Anderson Cooper, but will later embrace a public relations opening, or non-profit work (both growing job sectors). But right now, a majority are in the same competitive internship race that you may be in.

So how do you stand out? By starting earlier in college, and realizing the big prize won't be handed to you. Those small community dailies and weeklies are a great place for a freshman or sophomore to work at during the summer. Develop a strategy where you target the papers around your home, or in the cities where relatives live (those you could stand to crash with for the summer, anyways). The days of a sophomore or junior being accepted at a big metro paper after one, or zero previous internships will be gone soon. You will be at a great disadvantage if you wait until junior year to get serious about internships.

Also, print students who do start early should realize a lot of these small papers may not be able to pay much, if at all. That's ok, work there anyways. Broadcast students have been working unpaid for more than a decade. Nobody likes this, even some editors in the Poynter article say hell will freeze over before they don't pay an intern. But it's the reality of working your way up in life.

The Poynter article also says that online and multimedia skills are considered gold by the editors when they choose an intern. That's not really a news flash. Our generation is supposed to be the pioneers of these "new media" efforts. If your journalism program isn't aggressively trying to train you in online, multimedia and convergence efforts, then they are stealing your money. Stand up and demand this training, and go work at the student newspaper and try to figure it out yourself in the meantime while the professors get their acts together.

This week, the beginning of February, is the hottest time for internship application deadlines. If you read this article and feel like you need to get your act together, there's still time. Go to a veteran editor at the student newspaper, or a professor you trust, for advice on how to develop an internship hunting strategy immediately.
Or feel free to e-mail me at bobmoser333@yahoo.com. I'm eager to stay up late into the night to help you polish a resume, craft a killer cover letter, and blow your competition out of the water.

-- Bob Moser
Business Reporter, The Daily Advertiser (Lafayette, La.)
Bowling Green State University journalism grad, May 2006

Labels: college_media, internships, job hunt, resumes, skills, young journalists