| MEDIA LIFERS
Hey now, I didn't get this managing editor job at The Daily for nothing. Worked my way into it. Contributing writer, then staff writer, copy editor, dated a layout editor, was a city editor, took pictures, wrote some sports, even drove the pages to the printer for a quarter. I have a cot in the back, go home to take showers now and again. Work hard, and you'll make it, too.
Just too many kids in Medill to lump them all in one category; not every BSJ candidate is a dutiful employee of The Daily, A+P, or the Chronicle. Some journalism undergrads, god forbid, write nothing outside of the classroom setting, and aspire to join law or med school rather than the working press. But along with a top-notch J-school comes the inevitable: a mass of self-proclaimed, top-notch J-students. The ink bleeders. The Barbara Walters-, or Mike Royko-, or Bob Woodwards-in the making. The NU Media Lifers.
This, perhaps, is the most regimented of stereotypes. A strict schedule must, I repeat, must be followed. A wasted summer is a wasted opportunity, a missed clip could mean a missed internship.
The Media Lifer's regimen:
• Leadership experience in the high school media, augmented by attendance at NU's journalism cherub program
• A beat at The Daily, or an entry-level slot at NNN or WNUR as a freshman
• Nice, local internship during freshman summer
• Advancement in campus media as a sophomore, building a good base of "clips"
• Get ahead of the game with a high-profile internship during sophomore summer
• Gain a leadership position in campus media as a junior, get those clips/resume polished
• Land the big internship during junior summer at a major daily/TV station/magazine, get positioned for a job offer
• Culminate campus media work with big leadership position or regular column
• Convince one of the summer pubs to hire their old intern, become a professional journalist
And with hundreds upon hundreds of collegiate hours already foregone for love of the byline, the transition into missing the adult nightlife becomes that much easier. 'Tis the chosen path of the journalist. - Luke Winn | At 2/8/03 7:39 AM, | | wrote: | |
| At 1/11/03 1:45 PM, | | wrote: | |
| At 8/12/02 11:18 PM, | | wrote: | |
| At 8/7/02 12:40 AM, | | wrote: | |
| At 7/30/02 8:45 PM, | | wrote: | |
| At 7/1/02 6:50 AM, | | wrote: | |
| At 6/11/02 10:11 AM, | | wrote: | |
| At 5/14/02 7:14 AM, | | wrote: | |
| At 3/12/02 9:51 AM, | | Andy Welch (a-welch1@northwestern.edu) wrote: | | Its very clever. Although I've never met a professional journalist who couldn't close a bar. |
| At 3/12/02 8:57 AM, | | Mike Saewitz (m-saewitz@northwestern.edu) wrote: | | I enjoyed "Redefining the NU stereotypes." It's clever, creative, and funny. And better yet, accurate, I think. Same comments apply for the trashy and unique houses article. |
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