The Issue with Journalism Jobs: Getting That First Big Break
Last night around 11pm, I wrote a Twitter thread—you know, those self-indulgent microbes of #content typically crafted by, as Virginia Heffernan writes, “white-hat mansplainers.”
Despite your views on the Twitter thread, I think my points, about how hard it is to find your first job in journalism, are worth your minute of reading. Here’s the thread: (thank you in advance for your scrolling)
Over the course of the last 24 hours, these words resonated with a lot of journalists, who replied, quote-tweeted, liked, retweeted—yeah all of that. At first, most of the reactions were from college-age journalists such as myself, so I figured it wouldn’t pick up much attention from outside my bubble—from more experienced people who could actually share stories of hardship and success.
Well, it happened. Some kind people, my mentor Dr. Nikki Usher and my friend Josh Axelrod shared their stories:
And Josh’s shout-out to David Oliver, a Twitter friend of mine, continued the chain:
And these things progressed as they do.
I want this Medium post to serve as a home for these stories while, as I’ve retweeted them all, I think there’s value in creating a trusty archive of experiences for the lost and unsure 20-something reporter. At their worst, these stories seem to minimize the agency we all have in becoming professional journalists. At their best, these stories demonstrate the profound importance of connection, of friendship, of mentorship, and (often risky) belief in the potential of young people.
While I cover a lot of ground in my Twitter thread—touching on problems in recruiting practices, socioeconomic and racial disparities in newsrooms, lack of funding for students, unpaid and underpaid jobs and internships, and perhaps even a brain drain from journalism as a result of these challenges—the responses were hopeful, positive, and concerned the challenge of getting that first gig.
That’s all well. But, as I present these stories, I want to first articulate some points about the topics that they don’t all address in-depth. You can, of course skip ahead to the uplifting stuff if you want.
Let’s start with who I am. I’m a 23-year-old aspiring media reporter, that means I want to write about the industry I want to work in. It’s a complicated balance, but I maintain that solid reporting and criticism makes the journalism business, and media as a whole stronger in the long run.
I studied political communication at a top private urban university, George Washington, and had the privilege and means to take a number of unpaid and underpaid internships in politics and journalism during my undergraduate years. I’m in a fifth year, as they say, finishing up a master’s in media and strategic communication, writing a thesis, and completing a yearlong fellowship at The Atlantic, where I currently produce live journalistic events. I started a relatively successful media criticism website, MediaFile, as an undergraduate. I’ve been published in the Washington Post and Slate. I have a pretty good résumé—one of those that’s only really plausible if you come from a family that can support you, work your ass off, find great mentors, and nab some important scholarships along the way.
Still, the prospect of finding a full-time job writing, reporting, and/or editing the news in Washington, D.C., where I’d like to stay, seems daunting and unguided and uncertain. And the prospect of regularly covering my desired subject—the media industry—is a step further in obscurity.
I try to be a mentor, myself. I often talk to friends and younger students, and the same questions keep coming up. These are the questions that begin my thread. Especially: “Why aren’t there entry-level jobs in journalism?”
That’s a big question. There’s a lot there to unpack—I won’t get to it all in this post. I’ll start with three reasons: First, it’s hard to get any job in journalism. There are a lot of very highly qualified applicants all competing for lower-than-average-paying jobs often with bad hours. It’s hard at any stage of the process. Second, any job listed as entry-level is most likely an internship or fellowship, either of which is indubitably underpaid and time-limited (a situation I find myself in currently, albeit at The Atlantic, an organization I love and deeply admire and where I hope to either stay or return one day). Third, there’s been a decline in local journalism, especially local print journalism—a typical starting place or destination for the wayward reporter-in-training, even 10 or 15 years ago.
So yes, (1) it’s hard to get a job in journalism, (2) most entry-level jobs are temporary and underpaid, and (3) a large segment of outlets that were once destinations for young journalists are either out of business or cannot afford to hire them.
But, that’s industry movement. Individual news organizations have a direct say in how they approach and recruit young people. There’s such a culture of you-want-us, not we-want-you in the news business. With national outlets poaching established reporters, you often see that dynamic flipped once someone else has taken a chance on a reporter and it’s paid off. But, even the big names should shift their attitude here. It’ll serve them better in the long run.
Next, I’d like to say that mentorship is really important. Even if you don’t have it all figured out yet. Get coffee with a student. Edit their work. Point them to stories you cannot or will not cover. I promise you have the time and it’ll feel great. It might even be the best part of your day. And you’ll make great friends and meet students that’ll become your colleagues—hell, maybe even bosses—one day.
I’d also like to talk about recruiting diverse voices. Not the old, old wooden ship:
Newsrooms are still very white and they are still very male. As I said in my thread, we’re losing voices.
Without reporters from all races, ages, ethnicities, religions, classes and geographies, we’re not telling the full story. Like the rapper Shad once said, “There’s no girls rapping so we’re only hearing half the truth.”
When the system that’s built for guys who look like me doesn’t even work for a guy who looks like me, you can bet that it’s especially failing those who don’t look like me… whose voices are the precise ones we need to lift up.
Lastly, please be transparent. Tell your story. All too often when I ask about a career, someone starts with a job they had at age 25 or 30. Please back up. I want to hear about your couch-surfing in a new city, your crashing at your parents’, the shitty PR job you had to take to afford applying for journalism jobs, the editorial assistantship you had with a columnist who treated you like dirt. You don’t have to tell the world your story, but when you chat about your career with young people, it helps them immensely to be candid about where you started and how others helped you along the way.
Now, you’ve made it to the reward, the Oliverian treat at the end of the HBO rant. Many of these stories have a common thread: going through tough times, working for too little money, finding someone who would take a chance on them. Some are emotional, some are funny. But, I’d like these to help students see the truth behind a process I’m staring in the face: getting your break in journalism.
The end. I hope that helped. I’m at sgnover at gmail dot com if you ever need anything.
