Q: I am a troubled journalist. I graduated last year from Oakland University and actually had you as a teacher for my newspaper editing class at Oakland University. I had aspirations of becoming a college basketball broadcaster and writing a sports column in a newspaper within the same area. Since that class, I have changed that to writing for a newspaper now and broadcasting later on in life.

I currently work at a sports-talk station as a producer, a small-weekly newspaper as a regular freelance reporter, a full-time cashier at a car dealership and recently had my first freelance article in the Detroit Free Press. I have been doing what I want to do for about a year now, but I want to write for a newspaper full-time and no one seems to want to hire me. I have been sending out packets to the small papers and don't even get a response. I've sent a packet to the Washington Post on a whim. and got a personal e-mail back from the editor. What gives? Granted, it has only been a little over a year since I graduated, but I feel that I am ready to move on to bigger, better and fewer jobs.

I also have another question about whether or not I am still eligible to serve a summer internship at the Free Press and whether that would be a good idea considering the experience I have now.

What should I do? It seems that I am stuck between a rock and a freelance hard news story.

James

A: Thanks for writing. It's nice to hear from you, though I sympathize with how tough things are for you.

First, let's separate some issues.

Your key issue is trying to land a full-time job as a newspaper reporter. You're stuck at entry level -- freelancing -- and you have your eye on metros. You'll need to build in the interim steps -- small and then mid-size dailies -- to get moving. It sounds as though all your experience is within about an hour's drive of Detroit. You'll have to expand your search to get some traction in the competitive field of sports writing. Be willing to move -- even farther than Washington -- to a paper much smaller than the Post.

The market is tough. One way to cope with that is to be flexible on location.

Another issue is that you wonder why a big newspaper like the Washington Post would reply to an application while many small newspapers haven't.

The issue may be time. Major metros receive many more applications than small papers do, but they also have more help in the way of a dedicated recruiter, assistants or secretaries to help them handle the mail. Of course, maybe the Post editor sees some real potential in your work and wants to encourage you to take the steps that will help you grow.

At this stage, I think most editors will feel you should be past internships, which generally are meant for students and new grads.