By Lisa DiCarlucci
Where have all the print journalism majors gone? As a print journalism major, I make it a point to write for The Chronicle every week. It just seems like the logical thing to do. I mean after all, how can I expect to get a job if I don’t have any clips?
Lately, though, I get the sneaking suspicion that my fellow print journalism majors don’t follow the same logic as I do. In the past two weeks I have gotten several e-mails from various Chronicle editors in desperate need of content and writers. It shouldn’t have to be this way.
The University’s journalism program is fairly large, and it just doesn’t seem right to me that the same bylines are repeated over and over again throughout the whole paper.
The news section seems to be especially lacking writers and they have the most pertinent information to be published. I will be completely honest and say that I myself don’t frequently write for the news section, but when I can, I do. Truthfully, hard news just really isn’t my thing and hope that my career does not move in that direction; however, I can’t imagine this is the case for all of the print journalism majors here at the University. I mean, let’s face it people, a lot of the content in the news section are events that students are attending anyway. Why not write about it and get a clip and good experience?
Even if you don’t really want to write for the news section, the fact of the matter is that employers are going to want to see that you can write about anything. It’s important to have focus, but it’s just as important to be flexible.
With the way today’s job market is looking, especially with the decline in print media, journalism majors won’t have the luxury of being picky about job offers. Besides, if you can take a story that doesn’t necessarily interest you or seems dry and spin it to find the underlying attention-grabber, it makes you look twice as talented and creative.
If for some reason, the thought of writing hard news seems like a fate worse than death, I’m positive that any other section would love to have you. The entertainment section is always looking for content and is pretty much open to all ideas and suggestions. Your favorite band has a new CD? Write a review! Just saw an awesome (or awesomely terrible) movie? Write a review. The entertainment section even sends out freebies every once in a while, so you could go see a show or movie for free. I was lucky enough to contact one of the public relations representatives from the freebies list and he got me free tickets to two shows and set me up with two interviews. We still keep in touch.
The best part about writing for The Chronicle is that the possibilities are really endless. If you happen to think that everyone should do bikram yoga or that the new economic stimulus plan is terrible, write an editorial about it. Yes, that right, you can even get clips just by having an opinion!
Perhaps you have specific interests like sports or fashion. The sports and features section are great places to write about your passion and really explore the subjects extensively.
At the end of the day, I know that I became a print journalism major because I love to write and I would imagine that my fellow majors feel the same way. That being said, what are you waiting for? Write about something-anything. Every journalist has to start somewhere and The Chronicle is a great place to learn and gain exposure.
Lisa DiCarlucci is a sophomore print journalism student. You may e-mail her at [email protected].