Por conta própria | On your own

You can be a journalist without a job at a mainstream news organization

That headline seems obvious, no?

Then why is it that when journalists see layoffs, buyouts, and newspaper companies in trouble, they sigh and say “Should I stop wasting my time and start applying to advertising agencies?”

Really?

“You can be a journalist without a job at a mainstream news organization”, Ryan Sholin

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If you have the skills, people will call

Yes, it is a tough time for journalism graduates — or anyone looking for a journalism job — but there are jobs available for people with desirable skills.

Recent journalism graduate Kyle Hansen just accepted a job at the Las Vegas Sun. More noteworthy, is that in this terrible time for journalism companies and the economy, he had interviews in five different states with newspapers. Five different states.

What skills does Hansen have that most recent journalism graduates don’t? Well, for starters, he blogs. It doesn’t have to be the best or most popular blog, but having a blog shows potential employers that Hansen is willing to try out new tools and that he has an understanding of the power of blogging.

“If you have the skills, people will call” , Journalism Iconoclast

O que é que sabem fazer? A sério. Quais são as vossas competências? Porque é  que querem ser jornalistas (ou outra coisa qualquer) ? Eu ando a fazer estas questões a mim mesmo há já algum tempo, e há umas que vão tendo respostas mais concretas. Mas o que vejo é que muita gente não sabe que jornalismo é acima de tudo uma actividade. Não se diz que se gosta de correr, corre-se e pronto. Os profissionais estão cada vez mais por conta própria, e isso não é necessariamente mau. Façam um bom trabalho e mostrem-no. Com sorte, alguém há-de reparar.

What do you know to do? Really. What are your skills? Why do you want to be a journalist  (or anything else)? I’ve been asking myself these same questions for quite some time now, and there are a few which are getting some concrete answers. But what i’m watching is that there’s a whole lot of people that doesn’t know that journalism is an activity. You can’t say  you like to run, you just run. Professionals are more and more on their own, and that may not be a bad thing. Do the best work you can and show it. With luck, someone will notice.

Every single one of my interviews was a direct result of my experience blogging or editing video. Of course, another key is who you know. Two of the three places I was considering were places that I knew people working there. One of the others was a place that someone I knew recommended.

Kyle Hansen