In our day in age, the media is often painted as a corrupt collection of individuals owned by mysterious, vaguely described “corporations” whose sole purpose is to spread “fake news.”
Forget the fact that this would be extremely counter productive for any real news institution, the issue of fake news is real, but isn’t being perpetuated by refutable news sources - rather by individuals or by online “institutions” who rely on click bait.
For people like myself who represent a community news organization, I can confidently tell you we aren’t owned by some money laundering, evil corporation. We’re connected to a larger news agency that services the metropolitan area who we work in conjunction with. Our wages are paid for primarily through ad revenue and subscriptions, but we do not endorse any of the advertisements you find on our site or in our paper. A company simple purchases that space.
I’d like to also make it clear that in the case of genuine journalism, we make a living by getting our facts straight and reporting on real issues and events. If we were to say make a mistake, we publicly correct ourselves.
Now that I got that out of the way, I’m going to offer a bit of advice for people interested in entering the journalism field.
1) Be open to taking “unrelated” work or be willing to move
Some of us get lucky and land ideal jobs in local areas, but a lot of us won’t. It’s very typical for a budding journalist to get their start in a position they weren’t anticipating, like at a radio station (even though you wanted to be in print) or vice versa. You may only get freelance opportunities or part time work that requires you to uproot yourself and move to a more remote area, but them’s the breaks. It’s a good way to get your foot in the door and build experience and reputation.
2) Once your story is live, ignore the comments
Commenters are going to hate me for saying that, but it’s one of the best pieces of advice I can give. Many stories, once they go online, will be shared on company social media platforms where the public is essentially allowed to go ham and cheese sandwich on it. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the majority of people who comment on online content only have something to say when it’s negative - take it from someone who has received negative comments claiming I was being paid by our local humane society for doing a story about fostering animals.
Yes, the not-for-profit organization that relies on donations paid me to tell you about kittens being adopted … right.
If someone has a meaningful opinion or suggested correction, they will take the time to go to the story, scroll down, find your email and email you about the story. The rest is usually not worth taking with a grain of salt.
3) Write about everything
Even if you have a niche, don’t be afraid to try new things. Some of my stories that break away from my norm have been my most popular and it always helps to expand your resume. It shows you can report on anything and everything - which employers want.
4) Don’t panic if someone threatens to sue you - this happens all the time
This isn’t a terribly common occurrence in community news but it does happen. I’ve had someone threaten to sue me over quotes they have said that they feel painted them in a “bad light” - even though I made it clear anything they shared with me could be featured in a story before having them agree to an interview.
So, if someone insists they’re going to sue you for libel - remind them that the law of defamation o the protection of a person’s reputation and good name against communications that are FALSE and DEROGATORY.
It consists of two tiers, slander and libel. Libel is the one people try to come at as with, typically. You can’t be sued for libel provided your information is proven true. So, if you do a story about a Chinese food restaurant being forced to close its doors due to sanitation issues, the company cannot sue you if your sources check out and that is in fact what really happened.
In most cases, even if a lawyer contacts you, they tend to fall off the radar when the individual or company realizes the cost and likelihood of having a story taken down. By the time the court process truly begins, the story will likely have been up long enough that it wouldn’t make a difference to take it down.
5) You can’t accept gifts - even the free ones
Even if you attend an event where t-shirts are being passed out to the public, you can’t accept anything from a source or organization that could be seen as a gift. Even if you do an interview with someone in a coffee shop, you can’t allow them to so much as pay for your coffee.
The reason for this is journalistic ethics. As journalists, we have to remain as unbiased as possible - and that means we have to avoid being seen as having been provided incentive to report on something.
I’ve been accused of being paid by companies I have reported stories on even without having accepted so much as a business card from them, so, cover your bases.
6) Always take notes
Recorders may be easier, but if your technology fails you, written record is all you have. It’s hard to keep up with a person’s story when you have to physically transcribe everything, but trust me when I say you’ll get faster and learn how to better short-form and take pointed notes.
It helps to also write your story as quickly as possible after an interview if you took handwritten notes, as your memory will be fresh and you’ll be more easily able to decipher your chicken-scratch than if you waited a week to do it.
That's all I got. For all of you media haters who will no-doubt hop in ... just know I don't care and I don't take you seriously.
Thanks.
~ Jane
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