Aspiring journalist seeks answers

Be sure to take some sort of law course. That knowledge seems to be lacking in certain areas today.

 

sportfan11,

If you major in journalism at a school that is not known for it's journalism program, you gain very little. You wont get the connections, internships, etc., that you might at a top-notch journalism school.

You should take classes and work on the school paper, sure, but you are better off majoring in politcal science, English, history, criminal justice, accounting, whatever.

Not only might the other majors make you a more well-rounded person and reporter (you might be able to understand a contract or locate a police report), you might also find that journalism is not your cup of tea down the road and you may have a backup career.

To be honest, once you take a half-dozen classes or so in journalism, you aren't going to learn much more than you would just doing it.

 

Major in something other than journalism. Work at the school paper or local paper. String high school football games or basketball games or water polo games. And write. Everyday. Learn how to write concisely, quickly and without error. Your editors will love you. Your readers will love you. And above all, stop watching ESPN. Read ESPN the magazine if you must. Read Sports Illustrated and the New York Post as often as you can. Read anything that looks remotely interesting and learn from it.

 

My good friend Moe Kris says experience is overrated.

http://www.wenalway.com/introduction/horn.htm

 

Be willing to take criticism and heavy editing during your formative years. Don't get steamed (no, I said steamed hams ... ) when a copy editor shreds your lede, your meat and potatoes and your ending — completely rewriting the story — and keeps your byline on it. It's not going to be easy. Seventeen years later, I'm still a crappy writer. But I'm better than I was in 1989. The process can be maddening. Learn to accept it. Some writers can't. Plus, you can enhance your attractiveness to future employers if you learn to design and take photos. Your first job out of school no doubt will be in Podunkeapolis, or Roswell, so having an array of skills helps.

 

That's probably one of the most important points. Know that if you're ever going to make money in this business, it's not going to happen for a VERY, VERY long time, if ever. You have to genuinely love the work, or you'll drive yourself crazy every other Friday.

 

my advice: don't

 

Way to encourage the kid Hoops. My advice is pretty much the same as everyone else, get experience, network like crazy, and learn to be very patient with your post grad job hunt. If this is what you think you want to do, give it a shot, this profession is a good way to find out if you are a sports fan, or are passionate about sports and can make your readers passionate about the events you cover. The sports fans get weeded out pretty quickly.

 

Every job takes awhile to get into the money, and i know that a journalist income starts lower than most. But I have no idea of what kind of figure we are actually talking about. Any help? I know the pay depends on who your writing for and experience, but can i get a ballpark estimate of what most start out at and how soon that figure can be raised?

 

Many weeklies start at the $20-25k range. If you are really lucky you can crack the low side of 30k.

 

Expect between $20,000 and $25,000. But that might go up a little by the time you graduate. If you're really good you might latch on somewhere that pays more, perhaps a weekly. Don't hold your breath. Don't get into this for the money. Get into it because your passion is sports and writing and journalism. What you see on ESPN is everything this profession is NOT about.

 

Ace - do you think my "clip's from sj posts would qualify as experience? I am thinking of changing careers and becoming an agate clerk with ultimate objective of becoming a sports columnist.