Is It OK to Hop Among Media?

By Joe Grimm
Q. For the last year, I've been an editor at a television station. I was lucky to find a job so quickly after graduation, but I've quickly found that I miss reporting. A few months ago I applied for a job at a small paper in a suburb of Phoenix, but was turned down after what seemed like a terrific interview.

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Since I am already working in television, I feel I should stick with it. My ultimate goal is to one day work for National Public Radio. Now that I've realized that, I feel like staying in broadcast would be more beneficial than trying to get back into print. My clips from the school paper are now more than a year old, and I am out of practice with my writing.

One thing I do have to my advantage is that I have worked with different mediums. I was a disc jockey for two-and-a half years at the school radio station, I worked for a daily paper and I also interned with the online department at one of the major dailies here. Originally, I took the broadcast capstone in school to get video shooting and editing skills in order to pursue an online career. However, I've since realized that online seems to be too technical and doesn't hold the same reporting qualities that I would like to work with again.

Right now I am planning to put together a resume tape and start sending copies out by December or January. I am also planning to contact the local PBS/NPR affiliate to see if I can volunteer or intern for them in the meantime.

I feel that I am a better print writer, but I know that I can eventually learn broadcast style. Since TV reporters also need to write a Web version of their packages, it seems like I can kill two birds with one stone in terms of writing. I have appreciated all the areas of journalism that I've worked in, so it's been difficult for me to decide what exactly to pursue.

Am I on the right track? Should I go back to print? What would benefit me more in the long run if my goal is NPR?

Thanks,

Tucson

A. Wow. I had to read your question twice to keep up with you.

Let's look at things through a different lens. As all forms of media are converging, let's not think of them separately or try to decide whether you should be in one form or another. Instead, think about journalism jobs as being either news gathering/reporting or editing/production.

If you prefer one type of activity to the other, let that be your guiding light, rather than trying to be too medium-specific.

If you want to be a reporter at NPR, a reporting job at a newspaper, followed by one in TV, might be a more direct path, rather than a producing job in TV, followed by editing at a newspaper.

Because of your interest, I asked NPR Project Manager Doug Mitchell to help us out. We are at the UNITY convention this week in Chicago. He wrote: "One of the things I spend a lot of time on is getting people to think about 'process.' Yes, it's the end result that causes notoriety, but if you are a master of the process for taking an idea and making it a product that gets distributed, you can land a job and stick around for a while.

"That means you have to know a little bit about everything. You have to be genuinely interested in tools as well as fundamental journalism. We still have our titles. We are reporters, producers, editors etc. But, the most truly successful people can listen to an idea and then work either solo or with someone to make that story into something that can get purposed and then re-purposed through the various channels -- again, TV, radio, print and online.

"Work in a company that is progressively encouraging its staff to learn, train and adapt. And, there are tutorials everywhere if there is not time during the day. Nothing takes the place of having a live human sitting next to you while you learn a new tool or craft. But, I have found in 14 years of working with young people, they will try things without much hesitation because they are there, and the Web has a ton of resources for free. I would recommend having a real human help filter and focus. And, don't feel like you have to learn everything at once. That's not healthy. Oh, be patient. Good things come to those who just keep learning."