Newspaper reporters, editors and others listen as Miami Herald Multimedia Editor Rick Hirsch gives opening remarks at Saturday's workshop. (From my camera phone, TwitPic)
This is the first in an occasional series called “Tips from a J-Student.” Posts will focus on ways journalism students can better prepare themselves for jobs, internships and other opportunities.
Yes, we helped unload a car. Yes, we helped set up breakfast. Yes, we handed out name tags and programs.
But why?
Well, there was free breakfast and lunch. More importantly, it was an opportunity to see old friends, meet new people and learn something (sessions were also free for volunteers).
As for learning something new, I was able to attend a session in each of the three time slots (more details). It just so happened that all of them were led by Miami Herald journalists:
Spreadsheets and databases – Rob Barry, investigative reporter and database specialist; Stephanie Rosenblatt, multimedia developer
Online story planning – Paul Cheung, deputy multimedia presentation editor; Niala Boodhoo, multimedia business specialist
I wish I could have attended all the workshops, but I picked the ones where I thought I would learn the most.
So what good does this do you?
Find out if your school hosts any professional development events. Most UM journalism students have no idea this opportunity – though limited to a few volunteers – exists at all.
If there’s not such an event, see what you can do to lobby for workshops or some other opportunity to network and learn (somewhat related: a shameless plug for Sean Blanda‘s efforts to bring BarCampNewsInnovation to Philadelphia).
But the overall lesson is to take advantage of any available opportunity to improve your skill set, make new connections and continue relationships. And, if that opportunity doesn’t exist, try to make it happen.
Upcoming opportunity: From Jan. 3 to 10, Knight Char in Visual Journalism Rich Beckman will host his annual Beyond Bootcampworkshops at UM for the first time.
Students have the (paid) opportunity to assistant in one of the three-day sessions. I’ll be helping out with the video narratives sessions, Jan. 7 to 10. Of course, I plan to blog about this event.
Looking forward: Several upcoming posts in this series will related to applying for summer internships. Although it’s too late for many summer opportunities, I hope these posts will help students applying in the spring and beyond.
Weigh in: Have you found any similar training or networking opportunities at your school? If not, what kind would you like to see?
I intend to answer those questions and more this summer as an intern at The Dallas Morning News!
It’s an online internship, but I’ll primarily be working under metro as a multimedia reporter. Split between breaking news and other projects, my role will include writing stories, shooting video and doing other kinds of mischief.
This will be my fourth news internship – third at a metropolitan daily. I plan start soon after I graduate in May.
I can’t wait!
What should I see and do in Dallas?
Read about my experiences at The Miami Herald last summer:
The Online News Association officially launched their new Web site (see right) Monday evening.
If you’re a member with full access, or even a non-member just perusing, you can tell this site is big step forward.
Here are some of the features, as outlined in an e-mail from ONA President Jonathan Dube:
Networking features, including discussion groups that connect members by region and area of interest, giving you the ability to have one-on-one conversations and to chat in real time.
An easy-to-navigate membership directory – searchable by name, type of organization, areas of expertise, and more – enabling you to more easily network with people with common interests.
A Career Center that allows members to post and search job openings.
A new training section with innovative digital presentations tagged by topic, source and medium. This section features videotaped sessions from ONA’s sold-out 2008 annual conference, with tips on the latest techniques in multimedia storytelling from the New York Times, Washington Post, USA TODAY and the BBC, among others.
So why I am blogging about this? Earlier this month I was asked to be the student group discussion leader, a role I enthusiastically accepted.Â
I’ll be posting there a couple times a week in order to start conversations on topics such as classes, cool projects and internships. The group has six members so far, including two pros.Â
If you’re a student interested in online journalism, I highly recommend joining ONA. I joined in April and think ONA is a group often overlooked by student journalists (read about membership benefits).
For only $25 a year, you can’t say no.
One benefit is that you get a heavily discounted conference registration — we’re talking less than half the pro rate.
And if you saw my posts or tweets about this year’s gathering in D.C., you’d see why the experience is so valuable. I went to a number of great sessions, but more important are the connections you make.
Friday was my last day as a Miami Herald intern. I’ve written several posts about the experience (links below), but now I would to provide a more comprehensive look.
From the first day, my colleagues were very friendly and welcoming. There are too many people to thank individually and I don’t want to leave anyone out, so I’ll just say: THANK YOU!
Check out this photo of my editor Carol Jertson (left) and me (right, with my eyes closed).
Expectations
In short, the internship surpassed my expectations. I knew that I would have the opportunity to cover a wide range of topics as a general assignment reporter, but the quality of that experience was simply amazing – and tons of fun.
I wrote more than 30 stories for print/online, posted more than a dozen breaking news stories online (almost all of which went into print as briefs), contributed to several other stories and even anchored a breaking news story (this involves taking feeds from a reporter in the field and updating a story online).
I was particularly pleased with the amount of video work I was able to do, shooting and producing a total of seven videos (three for my stories, two for another intern’s stories and two for a business writer’s column). I have also shot video to go with an in-depth piece I will continue to work on after the internship.
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
The newsroom has gone through some very significant changes since I began three months ago, especially where I worked – the main Broward County office in the city of Pembroke Pines.
Like other news organizations, Miami Herald Media Company had its share of cutbacks this summer. About one month into my internship, the publisher announced that 250 full-time employees would be cut by voluntary and involuntary buyouts, which is about 17 percent of the staff. This news coincided with cutbacks across the board at McClatchy papers (more on that here).
On a positive note, I also witnessed plans to reorganize the newsroom and to redesign the Web site.
Reflecting on all this, I wrote the following on internal discussion board before I left Friday evening. I added the bracketed parts to explain a few things:
Intern’s last day: After 12 weeks, my stint as a metro GA [general assignment reporter] in Pines ends today. I’ve learned a lot, everything from sharpening my reporting skills to shooting and editing better videos.
I’ve also seen a great deal of change during my short time here. Some of those changes involved hard times. Hard times that have resulted in different pieces of advice for after I graduate in May: Go to law school. Go to med school. Don’t go into newspapers.
As for law school, Herald alumnus and current UM professor Sam Terilli has shown me that lawyers can be good people. Med school? I’m not a big fan of blood, so cross that off the list. Granted, those two bits of advice were usually jokes. But the third…not so much.
Nevertheless, I leave with a stronger love of journalism. I’m not naive (though I will admit to not knowing how to do the “i” for that in Coyote [system where we write stories]). I’ve been reading since high school about what’s going on in the industry – and my time here has shown me some of those changes firsthand.
I’m hopeful that newspapers will find a way to innovate in terms of content and advertising. I don’t know when, or how, but I’m hopeful. I’m also realistic enough to know some won’t adapt and some might, but still fall prey to whatever circumstances.
To everyone I’ve met, thank you for everything and please keep in touch: greglinch[at]gmail.com or www.greglinch.com. I won’t be far away at school (I go to the University of Miami), so I’ll be sure to visit.
No goodbyes, just TTFN (ta-ta for now).
Best,
Greg Linch
—————
The end of my internship is not really “The End” because I plan to continue to write stories and shoot/edit videos as a freelancer.
But I did have to say goodbye to my desk (below) and ID badge.
What’s next: In addition to freelancing during my senior year, I will be the editor at large for multimedia and online at The Miami Hurricane student newspaper.
As of now, this is mostly an advisory role with certain hands-on elements, such as overseeing the launch of the new site, currently in beta. But it’s a new position, so I’m sure the role will develop more in the coming months.
This was my seventh video for The Miami Herald and was definitely one of the most fun to do. It went with fellow metro intern Ely Portillo’s story about a small local seafood and wings joint, Tarks of Dania.
Tarks’ cook Lenny, just being himself, provided a lot of great material. Check it out:
I’m shooting a video for business columnist Cindy Goodman on Thursday morning and I’m planning to do another to go with the in-depth piece I’m working on, so I should have at least two more videos before the internship ends. Most of my time lately has been devoted to that in-depth piece, which is still in progress.
