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You are here: Experts > Arts/Humanities > Writing > Journalism (newspapers/magazines) > Looking for Career Advice
Expert: Jay Magoo (a pseudonym) - 10/22/2009
Question
My name is Chris, and I'm a sophomore in high school. I'm planning on entering either print or online journalism as a career. Is there anything I can do now that will help me get ready for a career in journalism? Thanks for any advice.
Answer
Hi Chris,
Yes, plenty.
If possible, work on your school's newspaper. Not every school has one, and many times all the slots are taken, but do what you can. Any experience is good experience.
Also, visit your school's guidance counselor, tell him or her what your career plans are and ask for suggestions. Again, not all guidance counselors are up to speed on what you need, and some may give you bad advice, but a good journalist gets all sides of every question before he's ready to write his story for tomorrow's paper.
Read your local newspaper, and read an excellent newspaper like the New York Times every chance you get. Try to figure out for yourself how reporters work. A great paper like the NY Times is put together so expertly that sometimes the levers and controls behind the scenes are invisible to the outsider. But try.
During the summer try to get an intern job at your local paper. If you're lucky you might be a copyboy or a newsroom clerical assistant. Be curious, be polite, ask questions, most of us old, gray-haired newspaper types are eager to help out a young guy like you.
Learn everything you can about news and newspapers. Read the Columbia Journalism Review, published by the Columbia University School of Journalism, try to get information from the newspaperman's fraternal organization, Sigma Delta Chi, try to think like a newspaperman, look at every event like an old reporter like me would look at as a potential story for tomorrow's paper.
That's a start. A reporter must be inventive and enterprising. Try to think of ways you can expand your knowledge about the newspaper business. A good investigative reporter would look at your problem as a challenge. You made a good start by asking me for advice. Now let's see what you can do to find more advice on your own. And don't get discouraged if you feel you might be wasting you time at times, that's part of the process.
JM
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