Q. I’m a fan of our great feature/narrative writers — Anne Hull, Roy Wenzl, Tom Hallman — and would love to fill a feature seat at a metro daily. But I’m unsure of how to go about achieving this dream, especially during a time when it seems newspapers are gutting their feature departments.
After graduating college with a bachelor’s degree in English in 2005, I took a job with a local, medium-sized daily, where I covered health and education for a little more than two years. As a beat reporter, I did a few good feature pieces, and won a few state awards.
When my wife and I moved to a nearby metro area, I interviewed for positions at the local papers, including an alternative weekly, and was offered two entry-level jobs. But because of financial concerns (my spouse is a full-time student), I decided to leave the journalism world and its low pay for work as a Web copywriter and content producer at a large nonprofit organization. I did this with the thought that I would return to journalism when I could afford to and bring with me a set of polished Web skills.
But, at the age of 26, I’m wondering if the move to marketing and resource development was the wrong one.
As a copywriter, I’m not building a journalistic portfolio and, although I’ve learned a lot about telling stories on the Web, I don’t know if my new skills (HTML, audio, video) are directly applicable to the feature writing job I want. A master’s degree in journalism is out of the question for the next few years.
Because of my career switch, I fear potential employers will either send me to the advertising department or offer me a job as a Web news clerk, positions both worlds away from where I want to be. What should I do?
Thank you for your time and concern. Keep up the great work!
Sincerely,
Jon
A. You and newspaper journalism are moving in opposite directions. Newspapers are moving away from the kind of journalism you want to do, and the kind of work you are doing now makes you less attractive for the diminishing list of narrative openings.
It would be unkind to tell you to keep going for that dream. Instead, craft a new one. Incorporate the digital skills you are learning into the storytelling you want to do. Or keep searching for a chance to do narratives, but in another industry.
Stories will be with us forever, I think, but I don’t see you writing the kind of tales you like for newspapers. I do, however, see you telling stories in digital ways or through print-on-demand book publishing.
Swim with the new trends in technology and business, not against them.
Coming Friday: He didn’t realize that he wanted to get into journalism until after he graduated with a degree in English literature. Will the lack of experience and internships doom him?
