Don't let your kid go to journalism school.

Don't let your babies grow up to be journalists.

Career has moved on-line. It still exists under other names than newspaper reporter. Free lance journalism and writing in general won't disappear.

...will move into copywriting and technical/instructional design writing. There's still lots of action there, and it leaves the door open to going it on your own.

is for him to learn to write "good." See if you can direct his "heart" to that. The rest will follow. All the mentioned alternatives have one thing in common -- writing. I've been a writer all my life, so it's natural that I emphasize that skill above all others. Have him strive for excellence in writing -- all kinds: fiction, non-fiction, essays, humor, sports. Have him have a go at all genres.

Once that happens, stress ... stress ... stress re-writing. This is where good writers find the gold. Then stress editing. Can I reduce this three hundred word piece to two hundred and ten words and RETAIN its essence.

Any help I can give ... lemme know.

I'll be looking for a job too!

"I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK"

J school is one of the best ways to learn to tell a story. If you know how to do that, it's a skill that's transferrable to so many avenues in life beyond just news reporting.

Majoring in journalism has transformed from a hard to soft skill. It's much closer to an English or polisci degree now. It's an incredibly applicable, practical, marketable and employable skillet, it's just not going to be applied to writing stories for a news outlet for most.

There's no denying there's been a huge cut in hard news jobs, but there 's been an even bigger cut in the soft news jobs e.g. auto, sports, entertainment etc. But that doesn't mean those stories aren't being told, they are just being told from the client side now. Companies, institutions etc. have the means and avenues to tell their own stories now. And a hell of a lot of people are employed to do that. Take a look on indeed or dice for the going rate of a content strategist.

Now it's a whole other debate whether it's good or bad for society on who and how the story gets told, but the notion journalism is a dead skill is flat wrong, the skill is just being transferred, and practicing fact finding, reporting, information design and editing is arguably more lucrative today than at any time.

In comment 11629066 GiantTuff1 said:

Quote:

J school is one of the best ways to learn to tell a story. If you know how to do that, it's a skill that's transferrable to so many avenues in life beyond just news reporting.

I've always regarded writing as an organic, inherent skill. It's akin to artistic talent (drawing/painting/sculpture), musical talent, really any of the "creative" talents.

You can learn to write to a certain level, just like you can learn to draw, or play the piano, but past a certain point, those with the inherent skills are going to far surpass those without.

Just learning how to tell a story just isn't going to cut it without that extra soupcon of talent; the ability to take that story and make it more than just reporting.

One of my former interns is a journalism major graduating in two weeks and he's already been on interviews and has multiple offers. The landscape has changed and continues to evolve, but there will continue to be a need for good journalists because the public demands the content.

Rather than J-school, I'd suggest students seek out internships and linking up with their local papers as stringers (freelancers). They need to be handy with a camera and learn to edit and post video (not a problem for most kids because they grew up in the Internet/social media age).

They need to learn to tweet without being snarky, but still clever (study David Carr of the NYT).

The jobs demand more hours and offer less pay than in the past, thanks to corporate consolidation and the demise of organized labor, but there's more flexibility to work from home or where ever there's an Internet connection.

Some analysts have been saying the bleeding has stopped and I sure hope so. Democracy needs journalism to thrive. The platform may evolve, but the need for news remains the same.

Heading towards social media and there is money there.

graduated from Scripps (Ohio U) in 2012, got a parttime position on the (free) City Paper (Toledo) which then turned into a fulltime staff writer position. Now considering advertising copywriter as his girl friend is headed (elsewhere) to grad school.

Seems to be doing ok -- and liking it.

Because they are factoring in many variables like danger and stress in addition to pay scale and of course job growth in that field.

What is stressful for one person may be invigorating for another. Pay scale can also be relative to what part of the country the person lives and just how important the financial aspect of the job is compared to how much they love having that as a career.

These list are good as general guidelines but if a young person has a true passion or burning desire to do something I don't know if discouraging them from pursuing their dream is always the best advise. Educate them on the obstacles and downsides and let them weigh those against their passion for it before making their final decision.

I have always been somewhat of a contrarian. IMO if the masses are running away from something that often can also mean that there can be some very good opportunities there if a person is willing to work hard and look for them, and then take advantage of them. Many things are cyclical and if you can recognize and exploit that you can often do better than chasing and following the herd mentality.

if you are going to J school to learn or sharpen a skill, please do it

If you are doing it to "change the world", do something else
Its work, like anything else

with direct media now, J students can and should look to companies to work in Marketing depts to help the company tell its story, thats the money now, connect with customers on a personal level

newspapers are dead

but there are many ways to learn that and apply it in other disciplines. My son is earning a PsyD--Doctorate in Clinical Psychology--and his professors have already commented on his superior writing skills--thankfully. He hopes to use writing as a way to further his growth in his profession, in part by working articles in whatever sub-specialty he ends up focusing on. (I know, dangling participle.)

I am in finance/strategy/research, but writing has been a key to my progress in my sector for 40 years.

The question in my mind is whether the best way to go nowadays is to focus on the skills you get in a journalism degree, or to learn another specialty and apply writing to it.

This ranking was specific to a career as a "Newspaper Reporter"

You wrote:I've always regarded writing as an organic, inherent skill. It's akin to artistic talent (drawing/painting/sculpture), musical talent, really any of the "creative" talents.

You can learn to write to a certain level, just like you can learn to draw, or play the piano, but past a certain point, those with the inherent skills are going to far surpass those without.

This is an important distinction, I think There is, I believe, something genetic going on that produces the truly great writers, musicians, athletes, scientists. As a comedy writer, I have seen this "inner knowledge or passion" in something trivial like a sense of humor. Not comedy, but humor Somehow, some people just get the funny, others don't.

What I was hoping to convey in my post is contained in your second paragraph, which I place under "craft." Craft can always be worked upon and improved, whatever your creative power. Since most of us probably don't have the spark of genius in us, we do have the ability to understand and use the X's and O's of most disciplines, and that's what we should concentrate on, IMO. Unless we're Faulkner or the recently deceased Gabriel Maria Marquez, who stood on Faulkner's shoulders as two of the greatest writers of the past 100 years. You don't learn what they knew. They just had what's described in your first paragraph.

"I hope my kid doesn't want to go to school cause I can't afford to pay for it...."

But you made a great point manh george that the degree you get today may not be viable in the future. The work you do today may not be viable. One must always stay on top of the trends and constantly keep learning.

That is why I take computer courses even though I am retired. You just never know what will come in the future.

If you can write well, understand storytelling, and tell a story, you've got a leg up on a ton of folks working in the tv/film/web industry.

In comment 11629466 Montreal Man said:

Quote:

You wrote:I've always regarded writing as an organic, inherent skill. It's akin to artistic talent (drawing/painting/sculpture), musical talent, really any of the "creative" talents. You can learn to write to a certain level, just like you can learn to draw, or play the piano, but past a certain point, those with the inherent skills are going to far surpass those without. This is an important distinction, I think There is, I believe, something genetic going on that produces the truly great writers, musicians, athletes, scientists. As a comedy writer, I have seen this "inner knowledge or passion" in something trivial like a sense of humor. Not comedy, but humor Somehow, some people just get the funny, others don't. What I was hoping to convey in my post is contained in your second paragraph, which I place under "craft." Craft can always be worked upon and improved, whatever your creative power. Since most of us probably don't have the spark of genius in us, we do have the ability to understand and use the X's and O's of most disciplines, and that's what we should concentrate on, IMO. Unless we're Faulkner or the recently deceased Gabriel Maria Marquez, who stood on Faulkner's shoulders as two of the greatest writers of the past 100 years. You don't learn what they knew. They just had what's described in your first paragraph.

On the money, MM. I'm certain that you've encountered this in your writing; that sudden spark, a revelation that causes what I like to call a writer's high; the transcendence of creating a communication that goes beyond the mundane and opens doors that not only were closed, but were heretofore undiscovered. There aren't many experiences that can compare to it. There aren't that many people who can experience it. It's a very special, and very rare, happening.

Writing/communication are invaluable assets in any career, and the more sophisticated the industry the more useful. But the journalistic skill set extends much further than writing and many would argue today in a modern j program writing is the 4th most emphasized skill behind reporting, editing then information design. These are the skills I've seen as incredibly valuable and lucrative in corporate communications. I graduated j school in 2004, spent about a month looking for a job in media and smartly (career wise, morals, ethics etc. debatable) realized I had a valuable skill set that was directly applicable to corporate comms. Ten years into my career I've seen basically everyone I went to school with struggle getting by writing or editing, and conversely worked with essentially all ex-journalists at 3 giant corporations.

Lumberjacks are OK
They sleep all night and they work all day.

There are many more journalism jobs in broadcast and digital than there are in newspaper nowadays. I'm thinking I'd much rather be a reporter than a coal miner.