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Hanging us out to dry?

Poynter recently gave out awards for "young journalists."
I think these awards are a great idea! Newsrooms across the nation should be doing a better job of encouraging, training and inspiring young journalists. Of course, most of the older journalists are better reporters, writers and editors. They should be!
Why is it that newsrooms seem to hang young reporters and editors out to dry - forced to live on small salaries, manage new beats AND find training, inspiration and mentors? I'm not saying my newsroom is bad at this - it's somewhere in the middle.
Tell me about your newsrooms - are they helpful? Is there a mentoring program? Are you closely edited in a way that helps you become a better journalist? Is there enough oversight?
Published Wednesday, June 13, 2007 4:06 PM by SonyaSmith
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Comments

# re: Hanging us out to dry?

Friday, June 15, 2007 10:49 PM by ElysseJames
This is a tough question. But it goes well with your earlier post - this is a tough time for the industry and all this regrouping and recreating the image of journalism means less pay for writers and those breaking into the biz. I am sure our pay will increase the longer we work here, but I doubt any of us will get rich off it. And I don't think this is new - it's just the way things are for those starting out. We're proving ourselves right now :) It's a challenge!

Our newsroom does not have a mentoring program, but there are some great editors here who are supportive teachers and can guide us to becoming better at what we do. But the younger generation has to really seek out these people. Guidance is there but one must actually ask for it.

# re: Hanging us out to dry?

Tuesday, June 19, 2007 3:28 PM by GenePark
Pay is always an issue, and sometimes it is almost a crippling issue, since I live in basically the most expensive place in the U.S. (outside of some parts in the O.C., which is about the same). My pay would be great if I wasn't so heavily taxed. Hawaii has historically been run by Democrats, and you can definitely feel it in the paycheck.

Mind you this certainly doesn't mean I'm Republican either. :P

Anyway, for the first time in my career, I'm actually a bit fearful about my job security. These are hard times.

# re: Hanging us out to dry?

Thursday, August 02, 2007 8:41 PM by La femme blonde
I'm interning at a paper this summer that is being shut down in December. Despite the looming demise and the small staff, they've all worked really hard to help me and the other four interns. They've taught me ways to contact sources after hours, clean up my leads, pick up story ideas from unlikely places and they've shared anecdotes from their years in the business, which are nearly as rewarding as the tips I've gotten.
The only thing I'm lacking is what to do in future, digitalized journalism. When it comes to that, they tell me to change majors, to get out of the business while I can (now that I'm only 15 credit hours away from graduating) or to get a double major in computer science (which I would never do).
I realize that they're bitter, but is the future in print journalism really as dim as they make it seem?
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