Friday, September 7, 2007
Is Journalism Dead?
Love the column. It's very helpful as an aspiring journalist to read sound advice on many situations ahead of me. I've got a quick question about an issue I recently went through that unfortunately might soon affect many journalists, both young and old.
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This summer I worked at the number two in a large market (
The Albuquerque Tribune in Albuquerque, N.M.). The experience was amazing. I was able to report in a very modern, urban area, and since the paper was the second daily, I was encouraged to be very progressive in newspaper terms -- shooting video, blogging, making podcasts, writing everything creatively.
I was feeling great about applying for jobs or internships with this type of experience on my resume; however,
the paper was just put on the sales block, and if it's still there in two months, it will fold.
Does this jeopardize my experience entirely? Is there a way to incorporate this into a cover letter or resume and make a positive out of this unfortunate situation?
Journalism isn't dead, right?
Although your newspaper may be on its last legs, journalism isn't and neither is your career.
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Photo by Lisa Pemberton-Butler
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No one will discount your experience because the paper you were working for is sold or gets closed. That has happened to literally thousands of us in the past two years.
The roots of the situation in Albuquerque go way back to before the creation of the
Joint Operating Agreement there. But mainstream media everywhere are experiencing a massive transformation that affects delivery, production and the very business model they have used for generations. All will have to change. Some will not make it.
The other side of this coin is that people who were formerly locked out of media creation because they lacked the capital or tools can now try to find or assemble and reach audiences. All sorts of barriers are down, so there is a great flowering of journalism. Some of it is ugly, but we are not going back to a time when journalists were protected by their ability to get hired.
You have tremendous opportunities to use your skills in the emerging media. But you can't get there if you remain tied to the idea that solely newspapers or solely broadcast are the way to communicate. The same tools used by new journalists are available to all of us. Learn them, use them and adapt to survive.
Coming Monday: He has just landed a part-time sports job and has now learned of a full-time position at a nearby paper. He wonders if he should go for it.
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