Ask the Recruiter

Q. I'm a graduate student in journalism, coming straight out of an undergrad communication program. I'm a print guy at heart, and I've been a reporter/editor at several student newspapers. I studied broadcast news in college and reported, produced, edited and wrote for a nightly student newscast.

I would feel qualified to work in either print or broadcast news, but my main focus is now on the Web. I'm trying to pick up more skills in programming, Flash, multimedia reporting, etc., with the goal of becoming a Web producer or developer for a journalism outlet of some kind.
 
I have two internships under my belt -- one at my hometown weekly (general assignment reporting), and one at an 18,000 daily (video production and print reporting). My question is, what should I be looking at for next summer? Am I qualified to look for an online internship at a major metro? Should I be less concerned about the size of the paper and more about the quality of its Web product? Or might a broadcast internship be good for variety on my resume?

Converging

A. Given where you have been and where you want to go, I would get the best online internship you can. That would ideally bring together your print and broadcast skills and help build a bridge to the future you envision.

Fortunately, the larger places tend to have earlier internship deadlines, so the first offers are usually at stronger places. This is not true all the time, of course, as smaller places will sometimes make very early offers to try to beat larger outlets to the best candidates. Generally, though, it can become dangerous to turn down offers to wait for better ones unless you have some indication they might come.

So, start applying for digital internships -- and apply right away.

Coming Friday: The newspaper where this recent grad is working an unpaid internship faces serious survival issues. Now, he's worried that his dream for journalism does, too.