Life after journalism

[FuturaBold]

I've thought a lot about starting a photography business ... it's hard to make the money work in my head just yet but i've already got one freelance gig lined up that pays $100 an hour ... I took prom pics a month ago for a friend (six couples) and we grossed close to $600 on one night of work ... after expenses and making prints I still may bring in $400 or so, but not bad for an evening of shooting and maybe another 8-10 hours of processing photos and bagging prints ...

I've still got lots to learn and I don't have enough steady clients yet to go solo, but I've thought long and hard about reversing my thinking -- photography is the job and newspapers become the hobby ...

like Moddy above, I would have told you a couple years ago that thinking was nuts and that I'd be in newspapers forever... alas, that has changed -- even today, all our publisher raved about in a staff meeting was how we were going to use stringers more and more, thus not filling that open reporter position ... we're only staff of three in the newsroom as it is, covering three counties ...

 

[Diabeetus]

Just throwing the site indeed.com into the mix. I think it's the best job search site there is.

 

[WazzuGrad00]

If you're combining jobs to get 40-45 hours...I'm assuming you don't have benefits?

That's correct. But being single and healthy, I'm not paying an enormous amount to get coverage on my own.

Yeah that approach works great until you tear your ACL playing basketball.

I don't think you understood what he said.

 

[inkfingers]

Part of me thinks web design/site management would be the best route. Maybe brush up on Photoshop, learn Dreamweaver. Maybe start up on a freelance basis for smaller businesses, on days when they don't need me at the car wash.

But I don't want to get sucked into that without a game plan -- much like the newspaper industry did.

Again, like many here I'm sure, one thing that has never failed to perplex me is this industry's unrelenting willingness to unconditionally embrace the medium that is proving to accelerate its downfall. I understand the advantages of real-time news delivery; what I never could figure out is why over the past decade no one in the corner offices came to realize that the relevance of the newspaper in relation to the Internet presence had to be part of the larger equation. That there had to be a game plan justifying the existence of both elements. In not doing so, we forced readers and advertisers to choose between them.

Our newspaper was one of the late bloomers in terms of a web site presence, and even still they fell into the same trap. First the newspaper was the mainstay and the web site, a necessary novelty. Now the scale has tipped the other way, even as a dependable means of securing significant online advertising continues to elude us. In the newsroom, it increasingly feels like putting the paper out is simply the end-of-the-night ritual that separates two long days' worth of blogging.

 

[SockPuppet]

Yeah that approach works great until you tear your ACL playing basketball.

Yeah, but then you can win the U.S. Open.

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

I used to dread getting out of the business because I didn't know what skills I had to offer others, but threads like this one have made me realize there's plenty of opportunity out there.

As far as journalism is concerned, I've had it. It was fun and rewarding at one time, but now it just seems like a giant hassle.

 

[STLIrish]

I've been thinking about this a lot, too. Almost 30 and, while I still love what I do, I'm not so confident that I'll be able to do it for anything approaching a raise-a-family kind of wage in five or 10 years.
I'm still young enough to make a significant career switch, and I'm considering that. But I'm also tempted to try and figure some way to carve a niche out of freelancing. Is that nuts? Or will all journalists be working for themselves as multi-media content providers in ten years?

 

[forever_town]

PR/media relations/flakdom/whatever you want to call it for me and it is wonderful.

How about my favorite name for it: "Bull**** dispenser"?

 

[kleeda]

You can call them BS dispensers all you want, but good ones are God's gift to our business.

 

[joe]

Corporate writing

I had a staffer who left us to do that and he said people who can write well are viewed with a certain awe by many business types.
As he said, "They think its magic."

I reckon they think "it's" magic. But maybe they're that dumb.

 

[RossLT]

I am no longer a writer and I do miss the people, but when I made the decision to go to grad school to get my masters and teach a wave of calm came over me.
Now that I am close to going back, I can't wait to start my new life, in a city that I want to live in nonetheless

 

[Yellowstone]

I'd have been the last person to think I wouldn't miss sports journalism. Had a great job on a growing newspaper in a supportive community; never had a bad job in 30 years.
Today, four months after getting out, I've never once looked back. No withdrawal. None.
As a communications director for a non-profit -- of all things -- I make more significantly more money, have nights and weekends off, and know my best work is making an impact beyond filling corporate coffers. It's astonishing to me how well the skills I developed in newspapers translate out there. And there's still freelancing for magazines and the occasional newspaper to keep my fingers dipped in ink.
I did some serious hand-wringing over this decision for two months. Thankfully, my new outfit was patient. And thankfully I wasn't afraid to take the leap in the end. I'm still surprised at just how painless it has been.

 

[ScribePharisee]

interviewed this morning for a p.r. job and the skills i developed in running a small newsroom seem perfect for what they're looking for. and while my fingers and toes are crossed about getting the gig, it'd still feel weird for a while. but the better pay and long-term prospects would make up for that.

I can't see how "sports" journalists can waltz into a PR agency, with no advertising experience and no business writing experience, and get anything other than a see-ya. Nor can I see them getting in at a Chamber of Commerce. Sports information, maybe, but at a significant pay cut and ****tier hours. How the hell this happens, legitimately, explain.

 

[Guy on the couch]

I have a master's in secondary education to fall back on. I actually spent some time in a high school classroom already, but left teaching for newspapers. I may come full circle in the next few years and freelance on the side.

 

[BrianGriffin]

I have a dilemma. I'm at a fairly stable family owned and I may soon have a chance to move to a larger paper for a little bit higher pay and a promotion (a better title) at a corporate. The corporate has had no job cuts that I know of (for example, it does not show up on the layoff map that somebody posted on another thread).

But do you, in this climate, take a chance on being the "new guy" at a newspaper? And I mean ANY newspaper.

Job security versus ambition. A year ago I would have said you have to take your chances and follow your ambition. Now, I'm not so sure.

 

[rascalface]

That's assuming that the family-owned paper won't make any cuts, and that's a big if in this stage of the game. No company is immune from the "economic realities" ax.

I just started a new job about three months ago and at this point I'm hoping to get two more years out of it (which I'm hoping is enough time to figure out something else to do with my life).

It's a sad state of affairs in this business. Truly tragic.

 

[playthrough]

I've been thinking about this a lot, too. Almost 30 and, while I still love what I do, I'm not so confident that I'll be able to do it for anything approaching a raise-a-family kind of wage in five or 10 years.
I'm still young enough to make a significant career switch, and I'm considering that. But I'm also tempted to try and figure some way to carve a niche out of freelancing. Is that nuts? Or will all journalists be working for themselves as multi-media content providers in ten years?

It's not nuts. It's what I do. Walked away from a major metro to move to a new state with my wife, she had the real job and a baby on the way. My plan was to try freelancing, and three years later it's turned out fine.

I can't see the demand for freelancers going down anytime soon. The local major metro where I live now is using freelance copy more and more, and not just on page 7 of the lifestyle section writing about gardening. I mean section-front centerpieces. I think that's sad and destructive for the paper, but the writers aren't complaining.

My wife works at a regional magazine and is always lamenting the lack of good writers. If you're good and (equally important) have good story ideas, you can get a steady stream of work in that world.

 

[BrianGriffin]

I've been thinking about this a lot, too. Almost 30 and, while I still love what I do, I'm not so confident that I'll be able to do it for anything approaching a raise-a-family kind of wage in five or 10 years.
I'm still young enough to make a significant career switch, and I'm considering that. But I'm also tempted to try and figure some way to carve a niche out of freelancing. Is that nuts? Or will all journalists be working for themselves as multi-media content providers in ten years?

It's not nuts. It's what I do. Walked away from a major metro to move to a new state with my wife, she had the real job and a baby on the way. My plan was to try freelancing, and three years later it's turned out fine.

I can't see the demand for freelancers going down anytime soon. The local major metro where I live now is using freelance copy more and more, and not just on page 7 of the lifestyle section writing about gardening. I mean section-front centerpieces. I think that's sad and destructive for the paper, but the writers aren't complaining.

My wife works at a regional magazine and is always lamenting the lack of good writers. If you're good and (equally important) have good story ideas, you can get a steady stream of work in that world.

My paper uses a freelancer as its primary writer for its Money section. Gets around having to pay someone benefits. Not saying it's a good idea. Am saying it's one of those realities.

 

[lono]

Or will all journalists be working for themselves as multi-media content providers in ten years?

As options go, it beats being an unemployed journalist.

 

[The_Bunk]

I'm a long time lurker, but making my second post because lately I'm finding I wake up and talk myself into living the dream I've wanted my entire life. I'm a newbie in every sense of the word, someone who has less than five years as a sports writer under my belt. But, I'll never forget that day when I covered my first basketball game as a college intern, and for the first time in my life I realized I could be good at something. I loved the thrill of the deadline, and eventually, the rush of the feeling of a job well done. I was hooked.
With that being said, four years later, I'm studying for my teacher's certification exam in the hopes I'll no longer be a ghost in the lives of the people I love the most. I've realized I can't give my all to a job that won't pretend to give me the same courtesy. My hope is that I'll remain around people and eventually, have the ability to watch a game as a fan rather than a professional who is only worried about making deadline.
Maybe I wasn't cut out for the business in the first place, but I've come to believe that the thrill of a job well done will probably pale in comparison to not worrying if I have enough vacation time to watch my youngest brother get married.