Three years out of college, Kate Sheppard has an illustrious independent media career. She has written for Grist magazine and The Guardian, and currently writes for Mother Jones magazine. She has blogged for MSN. Before she guest spoke in class today, she was waiting for a call from the U.S. Secretary of Energy.
A 2006 graduate of Ithaca College, Kate came to our class today to share some wisdom with current IC students. She talked about the challenges and highlights of her career thus far, and offered practical steps for us to take in developing our own careers. Formatted into a Top 10 list, here were Kate's nuggets of wisdom:
1. Throw out your assumptions and be flexible.
"I've had about five jobs in the past three years," Kate said. "When I was your age, I expected to work for one publication for about five years before moving on to another one. All the assumptions I had were totally wrong." While most college grads don't jump at the chance to take on more internships and glorified internships, Kate said that taking these positions after graduation helped her further her reporting and researching skills and develop connections with editors.
2. Make connections and develop relationships with others in your field.
Kate used all of her internships and jobs as stepping stones, allowing her to develop connections with sources and editors that opened doors to future job opportunities.
3. Develop an area of expertise.
A journalism and politics double major in college, Kate found a niche in reporting environmental politics and climate change. "No one in D.C. was covering environmental politics for a general audience," she said. She has written so extensively on these issues that MSN sought her out to write a "green" blog.
4. Use new technologies to your advantage.
Modern independent media was born out of blogs and the freedom of the internet. It makes sense that aspiring independent journalists should be blogging and tweeting to get their name out there and develop the all-important "digital footprint" that we constantly talk about in class. (Related personal anecdote: a friend of mine wrote on my Facebook wall today that I am "allll over Google." I wrote back to her and explained the concept of a digital footprint.)
5. Go solo.
When a senator wanted to speak about how the Gross Domestic Product is an inaccurate reflection of a country's economy, he was the only senator to show up. Kate was the only reporter to show up, and hence the only one to get the story.
6. Accept the notion of the starving journalist.
Being a journalist is "a lot like being a college student," Kate said. She lives in a big group house, doesn't spend much money, and eats a lot of Ramen when times are tough. "This isn't a job to go into as a 20-something who wants to live comfortably," she admitted.
7. Freelance to survive.
To supplement her less-than-ideal internship stipends, Kate freelanced for WireTap, The Guardian, and MSN.
8. Develop pitching skills.
Fantastic stories won't get picked up by publications if your initial pitch is lackluster. Kate explained how to write a short, effective pitch - an essential skill that is often overlooked in traditional journalism classes.
9. No press pass? Public events are your new best friend.
Kate explained that one of the biggest challenges facing independent media today is their inability to obtain Congressional press passes. However, in a big city like Washington, D.C., many important events are open to the public, rendering press passes less essential than one might think.
10. Learn basic web skills.
Being familiar with blogging, basic HTML coding and knowing how to shoot, edit and insert video clips into online stories will make you much marketable in today's tech savvy world. Learn a bit more than the basics and "they'll love you," Kate said.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Blogging in the Classroom...and Beyond!
Earlier this semester, we read a blog post by Glenn Greenwald about the lessons sports columnist Dwight Jaynes learned from bloggers' reporting techniques. Jaynes admitted to becoming "too close" to the people he covered. Dependent on access and quotes, he became unable to criticize them when necessary. Bloggers, in contrast, report from a distance. In Jaynes's words, "They aren't hindered by a need to get along or kiss up to the people they write about."
I recently stumbled across this blog post on Edutopia by teacher Will Richardson who, like Jaynes, has high praise for bloggers. Consider this quote:
"I can say without hesitation that all my traditional educational experiences combined, everything from grade school to grad school, have not taught me as much about learning and being a learner as blogging has. My ability to easily consume other people's ideas, share my own in return, and communicate with other educators around the world has led me to dozens of smart, passionate teachers from whom I learn every day."
Richardson goes on to say that in this Web 2.0 world, teachers are quick to block applications like blogs and wikis and social networking sites from classrooms, seeing them as a hindrance to learning. In reality, Richardson argues, they are what learning should be. There is a reason why lectures and textbooks and multiple choice tests fail to capture students' imagination, yet they sit absorbed for hours on interactive game sites and write for fun on personal websites. New media grabs these students' attention, and instead of fighting for it back, teachers need to learn to harness new technologies to their advantage in the classroom.
Blogs have found their place in newsrooms and are struggling to do the same in classrooms. Their enormous potential for collaboration and information sharing makes it only a matter of time before they become fixtures in virtually every professional environment. I can't wait.
I recently stumbled across this blog post on Edutopia by teacher Will Richardson who, like Jaynes, has high praise for bloggers. Consider this quote:
"I can say without hesitation that all my traditional educational experiences combined, everything from grade school to grad school, have not taught me as much about learning and being a learner as blogging has. My ability to easily consume other people's ideas, share my own in return, and communicate with other educators around the world has led me to dozens of smart, passionate teachers from whom I learn every day."
Richardson goes on to say that in this Web 2.0 world, teachers are quick to block applications like blogs and wikis and social networking sites from classrooms, seeing them as a hindrance to learning. In reality, Richardson argues, they are what learning should be. There is a reason why lectures and textbooks and multiple choice tests fail to capture students' imagination, yet they sit absorbed for hours on interactive game sites and write for fun on personal websites. New media grabs these students' attention, and instead of fighting for it back, teachers need to learn to harness new technologies to their advantage in the classroom.
Blogs have found their place in newsrooms and are struggling to do the same in classrooms. Their enormous potential for collaboration and information sharing makes it only a matter of time before they become fixtures in virtually every professional environment. I can't wait.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Onion Writer Speaks Truth
When Onion staff writer Seth Reiss came to campus last night, I expected a talk on "creativity in the journalism world as well as the ever changing realm of technology and media." That's what the e-mail announcements purported he would speak about.
Wrong.
I should have known better. It is, after all, The Onion. Jokes are its specialty.
Reiss's presentation was far more stand-up comedy than journalistic lecture. He clicked through choice Onion headlines and elaborated on their conception, all the while keeping the audience in endless fits of laughter.
But hidden among the wise cracks, there were morsels of journalistic wisdom to be gleaned. Comparing The Onion's work to that of mainstream media, Reiss pointed out similarities and differences. The Onion, of course, always came out on top.
Traditional newspaper reporters crank out stories and craft a headline as the finishing touch. At The Onion, writers pitch headlines first, and once approved, write the corresponding story. Reiss claimed this makes Onion writers active producers of news rather than passive recipients: "We make the news," he said. "We don't just sit around for the news to be made."
At first glance, headlines such as "Chipotle employer just gave guy ahead of you more rice" don't seem to carry much journalistic value. But Reiss argued that The Onion aspires to the highest of journalistic goals: "The point of journalism is to uncover what is unfair and unjust in the world," he said.
While The Onion supports itself through advertising, it has no qualms about mocking its advertisers. "There's no advertiser we bow down to. We're never at the whim of an advertiser," Reiss said.
Ever mindful of the media's job as watchdog, Reiss praised The Onion's temerity: "I like it when the paper takes on the role of idiot."
Happy to invent fictitious news, The Onion has at times duped unsuspecting folks. When a Beijing paper took an Onion story about remodeling the Capitol seriously, an indignant Chinese official remarked, "Only in America could someone get paid to tell lies." By failing to report important stories due to corporate loyalties, mainstream media are often just as deceptive as The Onion. The Onion, at least, is transparent about its fibbery.
Wrong.
I should have known better. It is, after all, The Onion. Jokes are its specialty.
Reiss's presentation was far more stand-up comedy than journalistic lecture. He clicked through choice Onion headlines and elaborated on their conception, all the while keeping the audience in endless fits of laughter.
But hidden among the wise cracks, there were morsels of journalistic wisdom to be gleaned. Comparing The Onion's work to that of mainstream media, Reiss pointed out similarities and differences. The Onion, of course, always came out on top.
Traditional newspaper reporters crank out stories and craft a headline as the finishing touch. At The Onion, writers pitch headlines first, and once approved, write the corresponding story. Reiss claimed this makes Onion writers active producers of news rather than passive recipients: "We make the news," he said. "We don't just sit around for the news to be made."
At first glance, headlines such as "Chipotle employer just gave guy ahead of you more rice" don't seem to carry much journalistic value. But Reiss argued that The Onion aspires to the highest of journalistic goals: "The point of journalism is to uncover what is unfair and unjust in the world," he said.
While The Onion supports itself through advertising, it has no qualms about mocking its advertisers. "There's no advertiser we bow down to. We're never at the whim of an advertiser," Reiss said.
Ever mindful of the media's job as watchdog, Reiss praised The Onion's temerity: "I like it when the paper takes on the role of idiot."
Happy to invent fictitious news, The Onion has at times duped unsuspecting folks. When a Beijing paper took an Onion story about remodeling the Capitol seriously, an indignant Chinese official remarked, "Only in America could someone get paid to tell lies." By failing to report important stories due to corporate loyalties, mainstream media are often just as deceptive as The Onion. The Onion, at least, is transparent about its fibbery.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Net Geners Are Ideal Bloggers
When blogger and talk show host Mark Finkelstein spoke in our class as a guest today, the very first thing he said struck me the most: "I was watching some of you IMing and text messaging before class. There's all this talk of independent media, but it's the media now. You're all broadcasters and producers whenever you communicate."
As college students and members of the Net Gen, we have been deemed "digital natives." We have never known life without the Internet. Take away our cell phones, iPods and laptops and we lose a lot more than efficient communication - we lose our identity. Who we are is defined by what we do with the technology we use.
As Finkelstein said, we are media producers. A December 2007 Pew Internet & American Life Project study found that 64 percent of online teens are content creators. We upload photos and videos. We create web pages and blogs. We join social networking sites.
Net Geners are ideal bloggers. When Educause researched characteristics of the Net Gen in their e-book titled "Educating the Net Generation," they found that we are intuitive visual communicators, are extremely social, crave interaction and expect immediacy in everything we do. We are community centered and global citizens. In jobs, we prioritize happiness and "doing something good" over money and fame.
Blogs are timely. Finkelstein said he often writes a post within an hour of an incident occurring. Blogs are visual. Finkelstein posts videos to complement the text of his blogs. Blogs are social. They thrive on comments and birth new conversations. Most importantly, blogs are influential. They reach people and make a difference.
"Blogging is about having an impact on the world," Finkelstein told us in class today.
If the Net Gen pools its skills and resources into purposeful blogging, our generational legacy will long outlive us. After all, nothing is truly lost in cyberspace.
As college students and members of the Net Gen, we have been deemed "digital natives." We have never known life without the Internet. Take away our cell phones, iPods and laptops and we lose a lot more than efficient communication - we lose our identity. Who we are is defined by what we do with the technology we use.
As Finkelstein said, we are media producers. A December 2007 Pew Internet & American Life Project study found that 64 percent of online teens are content creators. We upload photos and videos. We create web pages and blogs. We join social networking sites.
Net Geners are ideal bloggers. When Educause researched characteristics of the Net Gen in their e-book titled "Educating the Net Generation," they found that we are intuitive visual communicators, are extremely social, crave interaction and expect immediacy in everything we do. We are community centered and global citizens. In jobs, we prioritize happiness and "doing something good" over money and fame.
Blogs are timely. Finkelstein said he often writes a post within an hour of an incident occurring. Blogs are visual. Finkelstein posts videos to complement the text of his blogs. Blogs are social. They thrive on comments and birth new conversations. Most importantly, blogs are influential. They reach people and make a difference.
"Blogging is about having an impact on the world," Finkelstein told us in class today.
If the Net Gen pools its skills and resources into purposeful blogging, our generational legacy will long outlive us. After all, nothing is truly lost in cyberspace.
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