Industry Insights
Journalism and Publishing
Counselor's Perspective
The publishing industries continue to produce books, newspapers and periodicals that entertain, educate and bring us the news we need to be informed citizens. This area is experiencing one the most revolutionary times in history; undergoing major changes in a relatively short time. Mergers, increased competition for sales, changes in the retail scene and the impact of technologies are all reshaping the landscape of this once very traditional industry. With these changes come new opportunities.
These areas hire for positions as they become available. They may also have a formal recruiting season in the spring. Interested candidates should contact organizations early in the fall semester but hiring traditionally takes place later in the year.
A Day in the Life
Internship at a Major News Daily
9:00 am Arrive at the bureau. Go through voicemail and email messages. Respond to the most urgent messages. Scan morning headlines, go over wires, read yesterday's paper for coverage.
9:45 Take a coffee break with a friend/fellow reporter. Try not to gossip about co-workers.
10:00 Check-in with editor. Talk about progress on work-in-progress stories. Pitch new stories. Get
assignments.
10:00-12:00 If you have a deadline by the end of the day, make those phone calls first. Do background
research. Otherwise continue working on other stories.
12:00 LUNCH!
1:00-3:00 Report, write, edit stories. Call people for interviews. Wait for them to call back.
4:00 Interview a source. Call more sources.
4:30 Interview second source. Sigh of relief.
5:00 Check-in with editor on progress of story. Reassure editor it will get done.
6:00 Finish story. Obsess over it. Send it to editor.
6:00-7:00 Stick around in case editor has questions.
7:30 Go home to a Siberian Husky and a frozen dinner. Feel happy because your byline will be in the paper tomorrow.
Opportunities
Poet, Lyricist & Creative Writer
Resources (counselor's picks)
People are your best resource to discovering opportunities in journalism and publishing. The Career Center can help connect you to experienced professionals currently involved in careers in your area of interest. There are a variety of excellent resources on the web to guide in your search as well. While there are endless resources of varying quality available on the web, these are a few of my recommendations:
Project for Excellence in Journalism
Editor & Publisher
Media Week
Media Bistro
Blogs/Mags
ED2010
Organizations & Memberships
National Press Club
Jobs & Internships
Journalism Jobs
Reporter
Book Jobs
Journalism Next
TV Jobs
Entertainment Careers
Communication Strategies
It is hard to ignore that the people who are most successful within the realms of journalism and publishing are those who work tirelessly to connect, to learn, and to perform. Employers consistently look for those who can demonstrate that they take initiative and risks, are appropriately driven and persistent, can work independently and show results, and have passion and confidence. Frequently, employers want to see and know about what you can DO for them more than what you KNOW.
Step One
CONNECT
- Seek out and take every opportunity to learn about your area of interest. Attend speakers and events and stick around afterward to ask a question or two. Ask for someone's card and follow up with a few insightful questions.
- Tell everyone you know about your interests and goals related to your career. You never know who will know someone who knows someone that might be willing to have a conversation about your career. Talk to your family, your supervisor, your professors, your dentist, your seat-mate on an airplane, the career center, a blind date, anyone! If you are genuinely interested in and excited about your next steps it will be contagious.
- Use Career Center resources like DukeConnect to broaden your connection to Duke alumni in your interest areas.
- Recognize that this might not be easy. That's OK. Remember, though, that your future employer is looking for someone who demonstrates that they take initiative, have confidence, and seeks out manageable risks. Establishing connections lays a foundation of the qualities that employers seek.
LEARN
- Developing a variety of connections provides you an incredibly valuable opportunity to hear from experts. What do you want to know about the person you're speaking to? What do you want to know about the industry that he or she works in? What insight into job searching does this person have that might help you along?
Questions you might ask someone include:- What is your favorite part of your job?
- Tell me about the path you took to get to this role - is there advice you can provide based on this?
- In your experience what does someone look for in a successful candidate for an entry level / internship position?
- What could I be doing right now to help prepare for a job within this industry?
- Is there anything that you think I should have asked about that I didn't?
- Based upon what you've learned about me so far, is there anyone else that you recommend that I speak to?
- Consider yourself a professional now! What news do you need to keep up with? What blogs and websites should you read? What industry background knowledge to you need to start to build? What does it take to be successful in these industries? Use an appointment at the career center (call 919-660-1050) to put together a plan to get and stay informed.
- Do a gut check. Does contemplating this sound like a huge burden or exciting? Do you have areas of interest that you do this for already? Should you fit your "plan" to your interests, or vice versa?
PERFORM
- Reality Check - jobs in this industry are in high demand. You need to provide evidence that you are passionate and competent in a way that is specific to your goals. Local internships and campus organizations may not be as glamorous as the roles that you ultimately want to fill, but they provide foundation and allow you to DO what you are interested in.
- Use every experience to be a superstar. Are you an intern who stands out above the crowd? Are you initiating new ideas and following through? Are you seeking feedback from others and incorporating it? Do you generate others' confidence in your success?
- Do you enjoy what you're doing? Ultimately, if you do, success comes easily because it isn't "work".
Who is interested in Duke students?
Like many of the more creative industries, you will rarely find a company on campus recruiting for writing or publishing jobs. However, Duke brings a number of people to campus who are professional writers and publishers. These people often mentor, teach and network with students who aspire to work in this field. A great example of this is Duke Career Week. In 2006, over 10 professionals working in publishing (who are also alumni) came to Career Week to network with students and participate in career panels.
In addition, this is an assortment of organizations who did make opportunities available through the Duke Career Center:
- Asheville Citizen-Times
- Atlantic Media
- Bustedhalo.com
- Columbia Publishing Course
- Lulu Enterprises
- News Corporation
- PBS
- Time, Inc.
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