Help! I'm invited to Career Day...

[Hustle]

I'm going as a favor to my cousin, a middle school librarian, on Wednesday. I've got two groups to speak to, 30 minutes each.

We all know why they'll be there - because sports as a job, in their eyes, is really cool. At the same time, I feel like I wouldn't be doing a 'Career Day' justice if I didn't at least mention just how sick our industry is right now. But I somehow feel like such a message would be easier to convey to someone in HS, not someone in MS.

Is such a balance even necessary, since the writing is secondary to the sports (in their eyes)? I'm struggling to come up with a way to somehow represent what I do on a daily basis that won't make their eyes gloss over - because we all know there's a lot of adults who think it's more glamorous than it really is, let alone middle school kids.

Any ideas?

 

[BYH]

"Hi kids I'm Hustle. I write for the Daily Bugle. None of you will ever actually pick up a newspaper, but you can work for one since you're young and cheap. You'll be hired and fired by the time freshman orientation starts. Any questions? I need a Yuengling."

"Hustle that was only 36 seconds."

 

[schiezainc]

Just give them what they want to hear. They're middle school kids, what you say isn't really going to matter to them, and the only impact it will have on anyone is maybe someday motivating someone to write for real. If that day comes though, it will be because he/she still thinks it's a cool gig, not because they think the person who talked to them in middle school was cool.

If it were high school, I'd say tell them the truth. But, since they're so young, just shield them from the pain.

 

[zebracoy]

Bingo. Let them know what you do, not necessarily how hard it is to have any kind of success/stability at what you do.

 

[mike311gd]

What's the deal with homework?

 

[Shaggy]

I had writers tell me to stay the **** away from the business, but I didn't listen.

Neither will these kids. So talk about sports with them. Tell them that the locker room smells like a rotten asshole. Tell them that Joe Superstar is actually an amazing prick who snorts coke and beats his wife. Tell them that while you rub elbows with real live athletes, half of them don't even know who the **** you are, and most of them don't give a **** about you because their college coaches carefully trained them to be that way. Tell them that all college coaches (football specifically) are the most paranoid control-freak ****wads that roam this great Earth of ours, and mingling with them on a daily basis gives you less and less hope regarding civilization. Tell them that the people you write about are, usually, bigger failures at life than most people, but they won the genetic lottery so they're given this hollow legacy in life. Tell them that the fans who make you a minor celebrity are the meanest collection of cocksuckers on the planet, full of hate, irrationality and an amazing ability to never, ever be satisfied at both the work you do and the work their favorite team does.

Then take questions.

 

[Screwball]

No middle school kid will sit for 30 minutes and listen to a lecture. Ask questions, spark a discussion about their favorite teams, tell some stories, hope they don't ask what your salary is.

See if you can get your hands on any promotional items. Does your paper's marketing department have some stickers, bookmarks, pens, T-shirts, etc. that you could bring to the class? (Or maybe one of the teams in your area has some surplus promotional items, from the day they ordered 50,000 caps and 30,000 fans showed up.) You can use those to prompt discussion ... give one to any kid that asks a question ... and of course make sure the kids that don't ask anything get one too, at the end.

 

[BYH]

What's the deal with homework?

you haven't gotten over your 8th-grade teacher telling you you had no hope as a stand-up comic, have you?

 

[imjustagirl]

As you're wrapping up, pull aside the kids who appear to be dressed well and ask them if either of their parents can hire you to save you from the bone-crushing sadness of a career in newspapers.

 

[Chi City 81]

"Well kids, if trends continue, I'll probably get bought out in 15 years so one of you can take my job. SO STEP THE **** OFF!"

 

[Write-brained]

I wouldn't bring it up, though I'd say there's a pretty good chance that a teacher fills the awkward silence immediately following your speech by asking if there's lots of journalism jobs available ... :)

 

[Mystery_Meat]

Poindexter needs you to pick up a couple tips for him

 

[huntsie]

Give them a day in the life: going to games is fun and getting to ask the questions that a fan would ask is fun, but that's not all it is. Tell them about the less glamourous days too.
But yeah, give them some inside stuff -- a couple of stories about the guys and the games you've covered, how you write your story, where you get your idea, how you file the story, what happens after that...
And there will be lots of questions. From the outside looking in, at least, our jobs still seem pretty cool.
(And no, I'm not in middle school) ;D

 

[pressmurphy]

Skip the part about going online to SportsJournalists.com each day to find out which 32-year-old female teacher is banging which 14-year-old male student.

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

Whatever you do - don't have sex with a Portuguese waitress right before going on stage.

 

[Rumpleforeskin]

Hustle goes to class:

 

[The Big Ragu]

I do two of these each year. One at a high school and one at a middle school. I am not a newspaper person so what I would do is a bit different than a guy writing for a daily or working a newspaper desk.

I talk a little about sports. I am honest. I let them know that a credential doesn't mean you drink ice cream sodas with players after games or go to their homes for barbeques during your free time. But I am not a bummer, trying to warn them off of media-related careers. I actually want to get them excited about writing and reading and design and photography and print. I always end up answering a ton of "what is so and so like" questions based on stuff I show them that I do. And I indulge it, but I try not to make it the focus.

I actually put a lot of thought into those silly career days; I take it way too seriously considering the kids probably see it as just a day off from math class or whatever. But I make it interactive and fun (at least I think I do). The first year I did it with the middle schoolers, I was afraid they wouldn't have the attention span for much, but the kids were really into it and we didn't have enough time. I didn't ask for this, but the next year, the school threw more than one class into the room with me and gave me two periods for each session so I could have more time. It went really well. If you can engage them, the time flies.

Keep in mind that there will be girls in the class--and some boys, too--who aren't into sports. So play it by ear. If they are interested in the sports, roll with it and let them ask lots of questions. But last year, for example, what I did was more a program about publishing--something sort of interactive that got them really involved.

In your case, you could make it more about reporting and writing, in general. Maybe try to think of something in which you have one kid interview you or have them interview each other with an emphasis on listening to the answers and asking follow-ups based on listening? I don't know. But structure it around what you do and come up with something they can do that is fun. You definitely want to keep them engaged and having fun. If you want to address where you see the newspaper industry headed, you should, but don't warn them off! Tell them how the internet has changed things, maybe, and try to stimulate them to think about journalism within a new media context. Tell them how a lot of great reporters and writers working for newspapers are switching jobs to places like Yahoo! and ESPN.com because of the opportunities the Internet is offering. The Internet is something they know, probably more than a newspaper, which is why I thought of that. You can even talk about what makes some info you get on the internet reliable (good reporting/journalism skills behind it) and some info unreliable and use it as a way to tie it into what you do at the newspaper as opposed to Joe Jerkoff who can throw up a web page easily and put misinformation on it.

 

[Dirk Legume]

Screwball has a great point. Give them something. Doesn't matter what. People love free stuff.

 

[slappy4428]

Tell 'em the termite story...

 

[jimluttrell1963]

i wouldn't write the off because they're middle schoolers. these days, kids are selecting high school programs while they're in seventh and eighth grade. without being totally gloomy, i'd tell them the field is very competitive. i'd talk about the need to be well-rounded. to be technologically savvy. to have skills with a video camera as well as writing skills. and i'd try to work in a little bit about non-sports journalism as well. leave time for questions. you'll be surprised how good they are and what other topics they'll take you to. be honest and have fun. not always easy to get free stuff to give them, but i've found just some ap photo printouts work at that age. i'm sure you'll find a young lady with a thing for derek jeter. you'll make her day with a pic.

good luck.