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Topic: Confused, aspiring business journalist
| Author | Message |
| kiwiangel4ever | Posted – 7/8/2006 12:36:57 AM | show profile | email poster Hi, everyone. My name is Linda and I'm going to be a freshman in college come mid-August. College is a daunting experience, but even more daunting is the idea that I may not be able to get into the field that I'm really interested in, business journalism. I've been looking at many websites and publications looking for interns THIS summer to try and plan out my internship search for next summer. However I was disappointed to find that most places don't accept college freshman as interns yet expect sophomore applicants to have clips, experience, and skills. I'm planning to major in Economics and English Writing, and I'm in the business honors program at my college. My question is, should I intern at a business firm or bank next summer or find a media internship instead? |
| mailbag | Posted – 7/8/2006 7:40:00 AM | show profile | email poster Hi Linda, I applaud your planning ahead. Doesn't your journalism department list internships local to the area? I like your mix of economics with business journalism. I would think that mix allows you to intern in business/econ research as well as reporting at a news org. I predict you have plenty of time. Enjoy your freshman year and keep in touch with your school's placement center on a regular basis to see what types of interships companies are offering students and why type of requirements the list. I would also suggest you consider international opportunities for one or two year study abroad. It will cost a little more now, but in the long run it will pay for itself in more post-grad job opportunities. |
| Snowball | Posted – 7/8/2006 7:59:24 AM | show profile You should join the school newspaper at your college. That will give you a great opportunity to get clips and some reporting experience. While many places only accept juniors and seniors for internships, there are certainly newspapers that will take you as a freshman. Where I live the local newspaper prints articles written by high school interns. |
| kiwiangel4ever | Posted – 7/8/2006 2:04:26 PM | show profile | email poster I'd like to thank you for your advice. I am actually planning to join the college newspaper once I get on campus. My college career center, however, is not as efficient since I'm looking for internships in NY, where I live, and my college is in Indiana. I figure, however, that if I continue my search I'll come upon something good before next summer. Any other pieces of advice for a to-be college freshman aspiring to be a business journalist? |
| Marie | Posted – 7/8/2006 2:48:00 PM | show profile I hope Sheila Mullen weighs in at some poiint, because she's an established financial journalist in the New York area who's very helpful to beginners. You've receved great advice. Get clips from your college paper--it doesn't matter if they're not business clips--you just need something to prove you can string sentences togther in a somewhat artful way and can structure and report a story, although there might be some business stories on campus you can grab (for example, how the food service got the new contract, stuff like that; the university's real estate holdings and the effect on the surrounding community, although that one could get you in trouble but it's a classic). Once you're at school, try to contact alumni who are working in financial journalism in New York. Get in touch with them. You might even consider an internship at a Wall Street firm, for example. That will enhance your business knowledge, and you can do a media internship later. Your idea to combine economics with English is an excellent one. Dow Jones, and the Wall Street Journal, have, or used to have, good internship opportunities, although the WSJs are extremely competitive. Look into those possibilities. As I said, your economics major will be most welcome at both places. Don't worry so much at this early stage. Enjoy college. Good luck. |
| kiwiangel4ever | Posted – 7/8/2006 4:35:26 PM | show profile | email poster Marie, thank you for your great advice! I'll take all those things into consideration when I get on campus. Those story ideas are fantastic. I'll definitely look into them further when I get on campus. I actually looked into some Dow Jones internship programs I'm considering applying to in the future. They have an Asia-Pacific Internship Program in Singapore that interests me a great bit. WSJ would be a dream come true, as they only take 18 interns every year from both the college and graduate school pool of applicants. I've also contacted an alumni who now works at the WSJ with some questions; he answered me back and gave me the same piece of advice--get involved on the campus newspaper. I know that this is early to be thinking so far ahead, but I figure that the earlier the better and I'd rather be overprepared than not prepared at all. Thanks again! |
| Marie | Posted – 7/8/2006 6:44:16 PM | show profile You're welcome. But bear in mind those ideas are general statements thrown out to show you you might find some business stories for the campus paper. They might not be good or relevant stories at your school. And as I said, you should just write and accumulate clips, and not worry at this early stage whether you're getting business clips, but as your education progresses, you'll probably find your own business stories on your own campus. For the range of topics that can be covered on a college paper look at the Harvard Crimson (www.thecrimson.com). I'm sure there's plenty of other good college papers, too, but that's one I happen to know about. |
| sheilamullan | Posted – 7/11/2006 11:13:04 PM | show profile hi Hi Kiwiangel: 1/ I'd believe you want to do a MEDIA internship (not a bank internship) if you want to be a journalist. 2/ You're only just starting college this fall, right? There will be time to map out the summer internship, I should think. Enjoy your last summer before you get major college responsibillities and move away from home, presumably? I'd try to get clips wherever I could, if I were you; professional newspapers hold more weight than student ones. 3/ I'll write more later. Have been up since 5am. I have to think about this one. 4/ I'm on the board of the New York Financial Writers Association. You could join us as a STUDENT member, )very cheap, for students, only US$10/year,) esp. as your program is specifically geared to biz. journalism. 5/ Marie: thanks for the compliment! Don't stress out, Kiwi, you have 12 months to land something. I'd suggest you get an internship book also to look for the better ones. Good luck, Sheila |
| caitlinkelly | Posted – 7/12/2006 7:07:18 AM | show profile You might also try reaching out to local business journalists working professionally near your college, whether editors or writers. They may offer advice or insights, even contacts, if you're not asking them for a job or internship. The American Society of Journalists and Authors has members across the country, most freelance, but many with experience writing for business publications. Keep your eyes open for any upcoming events, panel discussions or conferences where you might learn more about your specific field as they offer an excellent way to make face to face contact with people in the business. |
| belinda | Posted – 7/12/2006 11:59:34 AM | show profile Even better, contact the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. Most professional societies welcome students, because part of the groups' purpose is to attract more people into journalism. Society of American Business Editors and Writers Inc. Missouri School of Journalism 134 Neff Annex Columbia, MO 65211-1200 Email: sabew@missouri.edu Phone: 573-882-7862 Fax: 573-884-1372 |
| kiwiangel4ever | Posted – 7/12/2006 5:50:46 PM | show profile | email poster Wow, this is amazing. Thank you, everyone for your great advice! This board has been so inspiring... I'm going to call the college newspaper as soon as I get on campus to ask them when the first meeting will be and how I can join. I've been looking into a lot of these journalism societies. The Society of American Business Editors and Writers Inc. and the New York Financial Writers Association are the top two I'm probably going to join next to the Asian American Journalists Association. The business program I'm in offers an internship program that lasts a summer and a semester in junior year for college credit. Although it is not a media program and is geared more toward business in general, the director is flexible and would be more than willing to allow a student in the program to do an internship at a business publication if they are able to land one. The reason why I would consider doing a banking or financial internship is to learn from the experience and to decide once and for all if I should go into journalism or business. Question: What should I do, starting from now, if I want to land myself an internship at a business publication by junior or senior year of college? *Feel free to email me at anytime about this subject. |
| cholie143 | Posted – 7/13/2006 12:42:22 AM | show profile | email poster Hope this helps Hi Linda, I'd like to first commend you on planning ahead. I agree with other posters who say to write for your school newspaper. Also look for small organizations (especially small nonprofit organizations) that have newsletters and would like help in creating content. Also look at ed2010.com and click on the link for college students, sometimes postings on there give names of places like collegeclub.com that take freelance writing from college students without pay. I know your interested in business writing, my advice is to get into the industry, under editorial if you can, even if its sports writing, don?t narrow your options yet. The more writing you have done, the more selective you can be down the line. Plus you may find that you like other types of writing as well. Also look at review.com, I don?t know if Princeton review does this on their web site, but their books about internships divide them by age year. So, Write write write and research for any opportunity that will teach you about the publishing industry. The more you know and the more clips you have, the better off you will be. I also think it?s great that you are not majoring in Journalism. Majoring in journalism is helpful, but I think that taking journalism classes and getting clips is more important than your degree. Good Luck and let me know if you need any advice! (I'm not that experienced, I just graduated but I know about college and getting that first job.) |
