Degrees? Internships? No – all savvy journos require is ratlike cunning and a plausible manner
Mumbrella’s Adam Thorn, author of this week’s investigation into whether journalism is becoming a profession for the rich, explains why he would never have got his break if he’d started out in 2018.
It’s time to end the debate right now. The greatest newspaper in history isn’t The Washington Post or The Sydney Morning Herald or The New York Times – it’s York Vision.
York Vision – shame on you for not knowing – is a student newspaper at the University of York in the north of England. It’s where I first became a journalist 13 years ago, and its reputation in the UK is the stuff of Fleet Street folklore. Really.
Click to read yesterday’s longform investigation into whether journalism is becoming a profession for only the rich
What a load of piffle.
First it has nothing to do with the rich. If you want it badly enough you will find a way to get your foot in the door.
We had a young guy just out of school ring us for work and told him he needed more experience: come back in two years and to do that offer yarns on an attractive freelance rate. He got a job packing shelves at Coles at night and chased stories by day – getting increasingly published in various specialist publications and websites.
When his freelance income exceeded the money from Coles he settled down to focus on writing full time.
Two years later with a folder full of clippings he rang again and he is now our latest cadet because he got a job outside his field to cover his living costs and got off his arse and beat the bushes offering stories. He was hungry and did not sit around lamenting how hard life is.
All our previous cadets have been graduates but not because it was required but because their degrees made them the talents they are.
All of them worked hard outside journalism to cover their costs and pay for their degrees. None of them were rich or born with a silver spoon in their mouths.
What really annoys me is other companies, who train no-one, constantly poaching the people we have trained. If they ran their own cadet programs there would be more openings for getting young journos started.
And you think it is great to have a guy working in a supermarket for two years just to be journalism cadet??
This guy needed more experience… to be trained?
No. To be good enough to pull his weight in the Newsroom. He is taking someone’s spot. He needs to be good enough to justify that privilege and not be a drain on the rest of his team. From there, years of experience from senior journalists flow over him every day.
My first cadet is now my managing editor.
It might be time for some introspection “Publisher”.
If your junior staff are constantly getting poached it’s probably time to stop blaming your competitors and ask yourself why they don’t want to stay with you…
They do stay because we are the best place to work. But it doesn’t stop the poachers trying.
Meanwhile, people entering other fields don’t have to put up with working at a supermarket for two years for a cadetship. Which means the smart kids aren’t interested anymore. Go figure.
Of course. He has a job and 75 per cent of journalism graduates don’t.
He has a great career ahead of him.
You tell me what works better?
Hi Publisher,
I can’t say I agree with you but I also think the more points of view on this the better. I wanted to create a debate. If you would like to talk more, email me on adam@mumbrella.com.au.
Thanks,
Adam, anywhere in your reporting on this series did you think of interviewing a few young journos who are in the throes of starting out on their careers, and the steps they have had to make and the challenges they have had to overcome? And I mean real people on the record, not anonymous sources who support your own – very firm – agenda with this angle?
I’m sure that kind of insight might have made for a far more comprehensive approach to this topic. As it is, your clear agenda and references to the UK model – which is so very, very different to the Oz landscape – lost me.
Hi Max,
In my main feature, I explain in great detail why it is that young people won’t speak on the record. In fact, silence is really the main theme of the piece. Speaking out defeats the entire purpose of interning (i.e. to get a reference).
https://mumbrella.com.au/journalism-is-becoming-a-profession-for-only-the-rich-so-why-wont-anyone-talk-about-it-535796
I explored the Australian issue in quite extreme detail, including a series of exclusive news reports in the days prior to the feature’s release. However, it is important to reference what’s happening in the UK, too, because, firstly, there are huge parallels between the two countries’ industries and, secondly, because more data exists abroad.
This is a worldwide issue and, I would argue, it’s important to blend local insight with worldwide context.
Hope this helps,
Thanks,
And a complete lack of ethics, an absence of a spine, and the willingness to commit to centre-left groupthink. There, the job is yours.
Left and right is no more. Myths (generally Newscorp and shock jocks) and facts (generally ABC and Fairfax). People are getting very informed re Google and FB. It is only a matter of time before they see through the spin. It will be very interesting once they do.