**********
Instead of doing one job shadow, I gained additional insight
by visiting Ty Forquer, the Arts and Sciences editor at the Lansing City Pulse
(LCP) in addition to interviewing RJ Wolcott, the Higher Education reporter at
the Lansing State Journal. Forquer took a fairly non-traditional path to his
position as an editor at the LCP, working as a music instructor before looking
for a more financially capable position that was still in the Lansing area.
Wolcott attributes his ability to get multiple journalism jobs after college to
his numerous internships. However, he did question how much general unpaid
internships were really worth. He said to make sure an internship is really
going to advance your career, which was good to hear.
Having no formal journalism education meant Forquer found AP
Style regulations and ethical decision-making the biggest challenges when
starting the job. Now that those are insignificant issues, his biggest
frustration is when people are unresponsive and don’t respect deadlines. The biggest
challenge Forquer faces is the constant “grind” of work, because there is
always something on the table to get done. We agreed on the need to discipline
yourself to stop working towards the end of the day despite the things that could get done. Forquer’s position as an
editor at the LCP doesn’t limit him to only proofreading the work of writers.
He says there’s a mix of writers submitting story ideas and him giving projects
to staff writers. He also writes sections himself.
Wolcott says this favorite challenge is just digging deep
into issues to find out what’s going on behind the PR veil. That includes
working through people associated with those behind the scenes to get to the
meat of the matter. That would be fun for a while, but I can imagine myself
getting frustrated with the people that don’t realize I’ll get to the heart of
the matter one way or another.
Between the surprisingly casual house-office of the LCP with
the entertaining dog, and the potential for highly-controversial education
issues that Wolcott covers, I learned I would enjoy being an editor at a
smaller publication like the LCP. However, it would feel more professional to
work in an actual production building instead of a repurposed house. My
skepticism of unpaid coffee-runner internships was confirmed as was the
expectation of this line of work being high paced.
********
Based on the day of my job shadow with Ty Forquer, I learned
that journalism can sometimes be uneventful. While he told me that his position
involves several various jobs, most of his Mondays are spent editing at his
computer. He even told me, as we were making plans, that I didn’t have to come
in if I didn’t want, as I would probably be bored with how little he had to do
on that day.
The
level of independence that comes with his job is something I would like to
compare to larger news outlets. With his apparent ability to pretty much do
whatever he needs to accomplish outside of weekly editorial meetings and
discussions with coworkers, he seems to have a job that requires a lot of
freedom, but also a lot of consequences that can come as a result of not being
organized enough to handle this. However, I was also happy to learn that he has
a family and a side T-shirt business that he also still has time to run outside
of his commitment to the paper, giving me hope that the stresses of being a
multi-tool journalist won’t be the ONLY thing I have time for in my life.
Ty said
that it’s a good thing that I am dedicated to having a career in journalism,
because the field is very tough and going into it without knowing for sure that
I want to could cause problems. He described it as a “turbulent time” to be a
journalist while also claiming that there are a lot of opportunities for those
who are willing to do anything. Working at a small newspaper, his job is pretty
much exactly what I expected; he’s responsible for many things, from editing
audio segments to administrative work to writing the weekly newsletter. I think
this type of diversity is what I’m looking for in the field of journalism; I
want to be able to turn the fun I have interviewing into many different
products.
*******
For my job shadow assignment I decided to shadow a News
Producer, Kit Kuhne at the news station ABC12 WJRT in Flint, Michigan. Going
into the job shadow I knew very little about what being a producer actually
meant. I figured that they helped out with the behind the scenes of a news
program. While shadowing Kuhne I was able to learn a news producer basically
leads the news program and directs the news anchors. They also prepare the
script for that day’s show.
The producer that I job shadowed worked from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
so one of the biggest challenges of my job shadow was just waking up at 4 a.m.
to drive to Flint. What I observed of Kuhne was that she had tons of energy and
passion about her job. Since she is in charge of producing a morning news show
that runs from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m., she has to be constantly running around, answering
phone calls and revising the script when necessary. Once a revision is made she
has to alert the director. On the morning that I shadowed her, there was
breaking news of a shooting in Saginaw which she said makes her job more
stressful but also adds a fresh and new feeling to the news show. Since the
show she produces is a weekday morning show, most of the new is regurgitated
stuff from the day before, so breaking news is always exciting. A bad day on
her job is when something goes wrong because then it can spiral out of control.
She also said that the morning after a holiday such as the day after Easter is
really stressful because it’s a barebones crew and nationally there is no other
new content.
I think that this job would fit me very well. As a producer
you get to still write but not heavily interview people and you also get to
lead a talent crew and help direct people which is something I would really
enjoy. Overall, I learned that many of Kuhne’s job opportunities began because
she had mentors like Bob Gould at Michigan State University who helped her
improve her skills. She also was heavily involved in campus media. I would love
to explore more career options within producing.
*******
For my job shadow, I chose Brian Kalish. Mr. Kalish is the
president, founder, and owner of centralwisconsinsports.net. He created the
site as a way to combine his three favorite things: writing, sports, and the
outdoors. Started in 2009, the site covers stories about local high school
sports and athletes, as well as hunting and fishing.
I chose Mr.
Kalish because he was able to take something he was passionate about and turn
it into a business; I would one day like to be able to write about things I
enjoy and turn that into a livelihood. He started out as an English teacher;
however, he did not feel that was the career for him. He had always been
interested in sports, and he had the ability to write well. He noticed the
decline of sports coverage in newspapers; he created the website and things
took off from there. It started out small; it was just Mr. Kalish and one other
writer. Over time, the website grew, and they were able to bring in more
writers as well as cover more stories.
Mr. Kalish
loves what he does. He spends his time watching sports and writing about them,
things he would enjoy doing anyway. Doing them as his job makes it that much
better. However, as with any job, this does not mean he does not have some
complaints. One of his biggest issues is the lack of personal communication in
this day and age. He said that everyone wants to email. No one wants to pick up
the phone and call someone. No one wants to talk face to face. He said that
through email, something gets lost. You can’t ask follow up questions, you
can’t see facial expressions, the answers are stiff, and readers can tell the
difference.
Based on
his past mistakes, Mr. Kalish had advice to offer for any prospective
journalists in any career path they choose. He said it’s important to go after
what you’re passionate about, and don’t worry about what other people think or
say. He also said to immerse yourself in knowledge. There will always be
something to learn, and the more you learn, the more information you’ll have,
and the better your writing will be. You also can’t do anything half hearted.
You have to dive all of the way into whatever you’re doing.
Mr. Kalish
also said that in order to be a successful journalist, you have to be willing
to work harder than everyone else. You have to be committed to working crazy
long hours, and you never really get a day off. You have to be self motivated.
I think I
would really enjoy writing about something I’m passionate about for a living.
Every day would be filled with new challenges and experiences. I believe that
through this class and future classes, I would have the skills to be able to do
something like this.
I can’t say
for certain what I would not like about a job like this as I have never done
something like this. However, I think trying to turn your own website into a
profitable business would be very stressful at times. After speaking with Mr.
Kalish, I think I would rather be a writer for someone who has already
successfully created their own site, at least to start off.
********
For
my job shadow assignment I wanted to try and find someone who worked in the
visual side of journalism, since that is where my interests lie. I shadowed
Rick Epps along with some of the other page designers at The Detroit News.
Rick, who now freelance designs for them is in charge of creating page designs
and layouts for the print version of The Detroit News. He seemed very
knowledgeable in typography and really enjoys the creative aspect that this job
gives him. He explained that the difficulty comes when stories and photos on
the page get added or removed because then it involves playing around with a
different layout until everything fits.
His job really interested me because
he was able to be involved in important stories that will be seen by a large
population of people. But his involvement included the element that I enjoy
most as well, making it visually appealing so that people will take an interest
and read the content. I think that this is a very important role in journalism
that sometimes gets overlooked and I want to be apart of that. Some aspects of
this job that I didn’t like were definitely his work hours. I know that since
design is on the end of the production process and newspapers like The Detroit
News come out every day, designers hours are not going to be your typical nine
to five. There is also a lot of pressure on designers to come up with different
and unique elements on a time crunch, and sometimes creativity take time to produce
your best work.
While at the job shadow we were able
to meet and get professional advice from other positions at The Detroit News.
It was interesting to see all the roles that people have, and how since their
newsroom is large, there are multiple designers assigned to work on certain
sections of the paper. One piece of advise that I took away from this job
shadow was to get your pages critiqued by others, because the more feedback the
better. Also their presentation editor made it very clear to us that being a
jack of all trades will be a big help when trying to get hired for this type of
job. Being well versed in different types of software and media will really
help. Overall it was a very good experience and I am glad that I was able to
make the trip to Detroit.
*********
Today I spent time
shadowing Jeremy Warnemuende a sports writer for 247 Sports, a sports news
website. During our time together Jeremy showed me the day to day operations of
his usual off-season work for both football and basketball. Because he writes
about Michigan State's teams, both of whom are in their off-season, he showed
me how important different social media platforms are crucial to keeping up
with the teams and their new recruits. The central part of his work, this time
of year, consists of staying in constant contact with the new recruits and his
fellow journalists around the conference. However, social media is only the
half of what Jeremy has to keep up with during his day
A large part of
his job includes getting the breaking news out as quick as and hopefully being
first, then going back later and expanding on the news updates. We talked about
how now more than ever, because of things like the ESPN or Barstool Sports
apps, people are focusing on short, fast, news updates as opposed to longer
in-depth coverage. People want their news as soon as it happens, especially if
it involves their fantasy sports. Luckily I was there when news broke about a
recruit for Michigan State's football team who verbally committed, allowing me
to see the process of how Jeremy crafts and updates the news site.
Overall this job
would fit me, but I wouldn't prefer it due to the constant pressure to get news
out first. If you're not looking at your phone or laptop constantly, you may
miss a big story like a late night tweet by a player or coach. Although, jobs
are always opening up for this type of work and with things like the ESPN a and
affiliated websites, people always need more coverage. In this field, it's
important to build relationships early on with these athletes and coaches, but
it's also important to stay connected and never be too far away from your
phone.
********
For
my job shadow, I chose to shadow Lauren Jbara, the Detroit Pistons reporter. I
met her last year at the Duel in the D hockey game between MSU and Michigan, as
she is also the in-game host for the Red Wings. Staying in touch with her over
the past year, I have kept up-to-date with her career moves and all of the
things she has been doing. I was very excited to shadow her on game night
because she is very involved during games. The Pistons won the game against the
Brooklyn Nets.
