Media and HBCU

[CriTAUcal]

I have covered a little bit of everything at the paper in just two years. I have been on the court, health, education and general assignment in addition to the crime beat. Our paper only has six reporters and we cover many beats at a time. But my job is not secure at all because we go by seniority for some odd reason.

I like the crime beat only because there is something to write about every day, and you don't have to wait for your editor to give you an assignment. Plus, it helps me understand law enforcement and how it works.

If I get laid off, I don't know what I will do. I know I am 25, but it is darn near impossible to get a job in the industry right now because there are thousands of reporters with far more experience than me.

I probably will go back to school and major in sports management or something and rise to be SWAC president. :lol:

Going by seniority is not odd. It's the way of the world and business.

Lack of experience may not hurt you as bad as you think, if you do get laid off. It all really depends on what the employers are looking for. Some may be looking for younger reporters with less experience, so they can pay less salaries and mold them to what they want. So you can be at an advantage, too.

You can always freelance. Keep building your portfolio and network as often as you can. Your writing background will help tremendously, if you ever decide to leave print. You could easily jump into public relations, like I did. PR executives are ALWAYS interested in great writers. I got my last two PR jobs because of my career experience as a reporter and writer.

 

[Kendrick]

Going by seniority is not odd. It's the way of the world and business.

Lack of experience may not hurt you as bad as you think, if you do get laid off. It all really depends on what the employers are looking for. Some may be looking for younger reporters with less experience, so they can pay less salaries and mold them to what they want. So you can be at an advantage, too.

You can always freelance. Keep building your portfolio and network as often as you can. Your writing background will help tremendously, if you ever decide to leave print. You could easily jump into public relations, like I did. PR executives are ALWAYS interested in great writers. I got my last two PR jobs because of my career experience as a reporter and writer.

Well, the reason why I said going by seniority is odd in the journalism world is because it would make sense for the company to keep the best reporters no matter how long they have been on the job in my opinion.

The reason I am a little scared about the job market right now if I get the pink slip is because when I graduated college, it took me almost four months to find work. And that was in a good economy and stable job market.

I don't know what will happen now.

I never thought about going into PR. I do know at lot of people who have made the transition into the field from journalism. Is it really that much difference?

 

[CriTAUcal]

Well, the reason why I said going by seniority is odd in the journalism world is because it would make sense for the company to keep the best reporters no matter how long they have been on the job in my opinion.

The reason I am a little scared about the job market right now if I get the pink slip is because when I graduated college, it took me almost four months to find work. And that was in a good economy and stable job market.

I don't know what will happen now.

I never thought about going into PR. I do know at lot of people who have made the transition into the field from journalism. Is it really that much difference?

Some of your best reporters are the more seasoned reporters. Not to say rookie reporters are not good. But the craft of writing and reporting does tend to get better the longer you've been in the field. There's going to be a certain style of writing and getting answers to certain questions that a newbie just wouldn't think to ask. And the less time an editor has to spend on re-shaping a story or making a reporter go back and get answers to questions is why seniority counts for something.

There is a difference in working journalism vs. PR. In PR, you follow some of the same principles of journalism. Though the stories (news releases or feature articles) are more slanted toward only the positive things of the story we want to tell, we still follow AP writing style. So, we're still doing a great deal of writing for our employer's publication(s)-- newsletters, e-newsletters, magazines, annual reports, stakeholders reporters, etc. We stay connected to the media, because we want them to cover our stories. And now with social media, we're engaged in the monitoring of facebook, youtube, twitter, etc. for our employer. And depending on where you work, event planning may also be apart of your PR responsibilities. That's actually kind of fun, because you get to be apart of or attend the big events/parties. That's why I LOVED doing PR for JSU, because attending the home football games was apart of my job. And I could stand on the sidelines and/or be in the press box.

PR is definitely less stressful than the daily grind of a newspaper. We still have deadlines, but they're not as demanding as turning in copy every single day by 3-4 p.m. and staying until 9-10 p.m. in a newsroom.

 

[Kendrick]

You're outside of Cook County aren't you? Up north right?

I think I remember you posting an article you wrote about a police officer that got hit in the head with a hammer by those folks that were fighting/resisiting arrest.

Daily Herald or something like that right?!?!

Yeah, Lake County. You know North Chicago looks like Englewood? But that is another story. I write for the Lake County News-Sun. It's in Waukegan.

 

[jsupop33]

PR is a cool field. You get to write with a lot less people being mad at you. I worked at a small firm in Southeast DC right now, (www.dcgetinvolved.com - shameless plug) and the two biggest skills that carried me over was my ability to write and do graphic design. I churn out flyers, postcards and e-newsletters on a daily basis. I also design, run, and maintain two websites right now at work. (www.csmidc.com & www.chtcdc.com). PR is a cool gig if your clients are cool. Are of my clients are government so my only headache is the speed at which the gov’t responds.

However, I am looking to get into policy work now so these days are limited but I will still keep up my freelance writing and graphic design.

 

[Kendrick]

That's why I LOVE doing PR for JSU, because attending the home football games was apart of my job. And I could stand on the sidelines and/or be in the press box.

PR is definitely less stressful than the daily grind of a newspaper. We still have deadlines, but they're not as demanding as turning in copy every single day by 3-4 p.m. and staying until 9-10 p.m. in a newsroom.

Hey do you work with Aaron Thompson? I know he used to work in the SID when I was there with Mrs. Fortson. Really nice people.

Oh, tell me about the grind. Writing four stories a day is not easy at all. Especially dealing with the police. Some departments do a horrible job of getting you information in a timely manner. Sometimes they act like the darn CIA. :lol:

But the PR people I run into always look refreshed and happy with not a care in the world. I, on some days am at my desk or driving to an assignment thinking, "S*** why did I pick this career? Regular people have it much easier."

 

[jsupop33]

Kendrick, what year did you graduate from JSU...I saw you mentioned the bell "error" that I was unfortunate enought to be a part of

 

[CriTAUcal]

Hey do you work with Aaron Thompson? I know he used to work in the SID when I was there with Mrs. Fortson. Really nice people.

Oh, tell me about the grind. Writing four stories a day is not easy at all. Especially dealing with the police. Some departments do a horrible job of getting you information in a timely manner. Sometimes they act like the darn CIA. :lol:

But the PR people I run into always look refreshed and happy with not a care in the world. I, on some days am at my desk or driving to an assignment thinking, "S*** why did I pick this career? Regular people have it much easier."

I didn't work with Aaron. I think he worked there a year after I left. I worked with Jean Frazier, Deirdre Bell, Ms. Fortson and William Bright.

PR has its days when disasters hit. But the days are definitely better than being in a newsroom. You may have to write 1-3 stories in a day. Whereas I may have 2-3 weeks to write those stories. So, I love that about PR. The stressful part is working with the media to ensure positive or at least balanced/accurate information is put out there (i.e., controlling the message). Our job is to enhance the reputation of our employers. It can be a challenge, but it's fun (at times).

 

[Kendrick]

Kendrick, what year did you graduate from JSU...I saw you mentioned the bell "error" that I was unfortunate enought to be a part of

It was the summer of love in 2006 on the campus of Jackson State when I crossed the stage in the AAC and officially became a man.

 

[Kendrick]

The stressful part is working with the media to ensure positive or at least balanced/accurate information is put out there (i.e., controlling the message). Our job is to enhance the reputation of our employers. It can be a challenge, but it's fun (at times).

Yeah, I write a lot stories that involve working with community organizations, and sometimes I have the tell the PR person that I can't be a PR person and just present the information the way you want it. But for the most part it has been cool working with PR people.

 

[CriTAUcal]

Yeah, I write a lot stories that involve working with community organizations, and sometimes I have the tell the PR person that I can't be a PR person and just present the information the way you want it. But for the most part it has been cool working with PR people.

You can't blame us for trying. That's our way of "controlling the message." That's why we're present when reporters interview our subject-matter experts. Part of our job is coach them on talking points and jump in in case they say something crazy to ya'll.

 

[Kendrick]

You can't blame us for trying. That's our way of "controlling the message." That's why we're present when reporters interview our subject-matter experts. Part of our job is coach them on talking points and jump in in case they say something crazy to ya'll.

Do ya'll teach a class for the athletes and coaches as it relates to dealing with the media? I think it would help a lot.

 

[CriTAUcal]

Do ya'll teach a class for the athletes and coaches as it relates to dealing with the media? I think it would help a lot.

It would be wise to.
But that's going to depend on the school's PR office. Everybody is different.
It would be ideal to definitely do media training with coaches and a few select athletes. Anybody else just need to know (and be totally on board that) if they get approached by the media to direct all their inquiries to the coaches.

Where I work, we brainstorm on questions we think the media will ask, develop talking points to those questions and then think of things that we would want to bring up on our own in interviews. And we also try to keep a short time limit on reporters asking questions when it comes to sensitive subjects. Loose lips sink ships. :lol: But with positive stories, we make all the accomodations we can, so they can get their stories.

 

[Kendrick]

It would be wise to.
But that's going to depend on the school's PR office. Everybody is different.
It would be ideal to definitely do media training with coaches and a few select athletes. Anybody else just need to know (and be totally on board that) if they get approached by the media to direct all their inquiries to the coaches.

Where I work, we brainstorm on questions we think the media will ask, develop talking points to those questions and then think of things that we would want to bring up on our own in interviews. And we also try to keep a short time limit on reporters asking questions when it comes to sensitive subjects. Loose lips sink ships. :lol: But with positive stories, we make all the accomodations we can, so they can get their stories.

Yeah, ya'll do cut the media short on some stuff. I remember the month stretch when Bell and Culberson left, it was hard as hell to get those guys to talk. At least you guys are professional. I gotta give you that. That Jacksonian magazine is a THING!:lol: