Getting a sports reporter job out of college without Journalism degree

Where does grammar figure in?

 

Presumably both have good grammar. The non-clips kid can write - he's written very good papers in his major. He just hasn't written journalism.

 

I mean, Dick, you can be a well-rounded liberal arts person and handle any conversation at a cocktail party.

And if you can't execute a news story, I don't have the time to hand-hold you through it.

And if I don't have that time, I can pretty well assure you that my SE doesn't have the time.

 

OK. I don't really know what my answer is. I think it's the old upside vs. ready-now debate that sports front offices have on draft day all the time. The econ kid probably has a higher upside. The J-major probably is more ready to hit the ground running now.

 

You have a pretty good idea of which side I come down on come draft day.

 

The old "If they have a lower GPA, but their clips are great, I'd totally hire them!!!!" view is outdated and is frankly hurtful to today's student. When a youngster who pursues a career in print/newspaper journalism has to seek the inevitable career re-boot, it will be better to have had good grades in college in order to keep a master's degree (in whatever subject the individual so chooses) as an option.

Also, our ethics aren't as complicated as many would like to believe. For instance, Business ethics as taught in school are very similar. Most of what we say falls under the lines of "no shit" anyway. Don't date a source, don't enter into financial agreements with a source, don't misrepresent yourself or your company, etc. I suppose a non-journalism student might struggle somewhat with the whole "do I call the coach 'Coach'?" thing.

And I hated this revelation myself, but: what we do as far as being able to write news stories isn't exactly rocket science. I've seen students who didn't care or know about "journalism" read the paper for a week or two and figure it out. It's a pretty simple style to pick up for an intelligent person who has a solid command of grammar and sentence structure. And a kid who can finish college (or, hell, enter college) without those things should be a rarity.

The main way the original poster in this thread needs to position him (or her)self is to join the student paper and beg for assignments this fall, then use that experience to get an internship anywhere that will have him (or her)..

But keep those grades up. You may want them later.

 

And then, there's your battle-plan-based-on-imminent-failure method.

 

This here. Can't agree more. I wish somebody had saved my life about 10 years ago when I decided that sports journalism would be the life for me. I had two nice jobs in the business, covering college beats for small/medium size papers. Now I'm out. The pay was horrible and the hours were worse.

You need steady bread coming in and I wouldn't put my trust in newspapers at this point. You can blog and string and maybe even write a book to fulfill your journalistic desires.

 

I felt, at times, that I was under subtle or passive-aggressive pressure NOT to get good grades as a J-major. It was almost a badge of honor to underachieve in the rest of your classes - suffering for your art, as it were.

It was something I had to overcome later on, that's for sure.

 

I would argue that a portfolio of clips that shows you can write is a hell of a lot more important than what your major was.

If you don't have the clips/experience, you need a journalism degree to be given a chance.

If I was a SE, I wouldn't care if they had a Masters from Northwestern, if they didn't have the clips, I wouldn't hire them.

Granted, you can't get through Northwestern without having clips, because they ship you off for a semester to a paper.

 

The more I go on, the more I know that's the best way to do it. That's how I did it for times when I did a lot of stringing for a defunct wire service.

 

People recommend stringing a lot. But, man, stringing can suck. You are already working 9 to 5 all day. Or worse. Then you are supposed to come home, heat up a plate of Pizza Rolls, then hoof it to the nearest gym or football field to put in some more work for $50 a pop. Usually on a Friday or Saturday night.