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Topic: weeklies vs dailies
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| colinmdevries | Posted – 12/9/2007 1:24:00 AM | show profile | email poster so I've been in a bit of a pickle. I recently returned from a nine-month stint in AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps as a Media Coordinator and Photojournalist. It was a phenomenal experience, granted there was virtually no pay involved. Prior to that I worked as a lead reporter for a community weekly in my hometown in upstate New York, circulation approx. 2,400. Now that I've returned from NCCC, I am in pursuit for a full-time position. While I'm sending out volumes of resumes and clips, I have picked up freelancing for a different weekly by the publisher of my last paper. Getting to the question at hand here... what are the fundamental differences in weeklies and dailies? And what makes the adjustment from a weekly to a daily that much more difficult? Besides having to work slightly longer hours per day and submitting stories before a daily deadline. Is it just me or do editors of dailies have this thinking that weekly reporters are incapable of making the adjustment from a weekly to a daily? I apologize for my ranting but there seems to be a catch-22 happening here. In order to get hired to work at a daily, even a small one, you need prior daily experience. How am I supposed to get that initial daily experience without having daily experience? On a side note, I don't have a journalism degree. During my tenure at university a journalism major was not available to me, though I wrote for the college newspaper. Besides, being that I have already been a reporter and am currently a freelancer a Journalism degree should be obsolete from this point on. You learn everything about the fundamentals of journalism in the first few months of working. Mastery and improvement of your execution of those fundamentals can only come through years of real world experience. |
| writesonwater | Posted – 12/9/2007 8:03:07 AM | show profile | email poster In my experience, it depends on the publication, and on what you are looking for/willing to settle for. THere are dailies, small and medium ones, that are more concerned about your clips and what you're willing to do than whether you've been at a daily or weekly. But you may have to go further afield. Have you checked the various press associations around the country? These are frequently organized by state or region. For a place to start see texaspress.com. Look at the job board there. then go to the resources link and look at other press associations. Lack of a j degree shouldn't hold you up. Depending on the paper, lack of a completed degree might not even hold you up if you have some experience. However, better to have a degree than not. There may be more jobs available at small dailies than at weeklies. My experience in newspaper has included writing, then editing, for a mid-sized daily, writing for a bi-weekly, editing and writing for a smallish daily, editing and writing for a weekly, current freelance writing for a big daily. best of luck to you ... |
| reporterwriter | Posted – 12/9/2007 12:57:15 PM | show profile Some small dailies welcome former reporters from weeklies. To snag that daily job, let your clips show: -- Enterprise reporting, the topics you undertook without them being laid at your feet on your beat or in your community. These are usually issues stories: environment, growth, government procedure, school safety, something like that. If your stories got the community to act, so much the better; include a note about this in your cover letter or on the clip. Beat coverage is fine; but enterprise reporting elevates you in the applicant pool. -- A willingness to fully report a story even if it wouldn't be popular with community leaders. Include in your clips only stories with multiple viewpoints. -- A sample of diversity reporting. A story about any underrepresented, fairly voiceless type of person in your community would work for this. Shoot for a clip demonstrating diversity in age, economic status, physical or mental ability, etc. -- maybe something you wrote from your AmeriCorps experiences. -- Make sure every one of your clips includes multiple perspectives and context. Show those computer-research skills! -- Show the dailies to which you apply your willingness to do more than write words for print. The future is rolling like a bullet train carrying in multi-skilled reporters who can write for the Web, speak on radio, and shoot stills and video for broadcast and Web. This is especially true at small dailies, and it's a change that has come on strongly in only the past few years. In other words, package yourself as someone prepared for the media world of tomorrow -- as what you will be, not as what you were. |
| someone | Posted – 12/9/2007 4:16:27 PM | show profile It is best to try to get a job at a small daily rather than working at a weekly because some people who work at daily newspapers are snobs about weekly papers. They think that people who work at weeklies don't know as much as they do, but the reality is that you will work much harder at a weekly and have to hone your skills at many different things (i.e. photography, design, writing, editing), whereas you would likely only focus on one thing at a daily. So save yourself the trouble and opt for the easier job - try to get on at a small daily starting out, and you won't have to deal with fake snobbery when climbing the ladder of bs. |
| HisGirlFriday | Posted – 12/9/2007 9:34:54 PM | show profile Well, for most reporters, it *is* harder to work for a daily than a weekly - and it's more than just slightly longer hours per day. Daily reporters sometimes do two or three (or four, or five) stories a day - meaning each story might have 3 or 4 interviews, some research, legwork, on the scene reporting, etc. Editors probably do worry that you might not be able to handle the pressure. But it sounds like you have your head on straight and that you can do it - but it might help you in interviews to acknowledge that issue: "Yes, I know it will be an adjustment from a weekly deadline to a daily one but I know I can do it because of ... " and give them the example of that time you cranked out three stories in a day because of breaking news or whatnot. Or give the example of how you, the lowly weekly, beat the big-bad daily. I think your real world AmeriCorps experience would be a big plus. Don't worry about the JRN degree. IMHO no one really gives a shit as long as you have good clips. Good luck! |
| someone | Posted – 12/9/2007 10:25:52 PM | show profile I have worked for both weekly and daily newspapers. I've never heard of anyone at a daily writing five stories a day - probably two at most is more like it. Working at a weekly, you will write A LOT because you will be one of only two or three people on staff. You'll also be taking photos, laying out pages, copy editing, etc. I am sure the workload differs from paper to paper, but you will definitely get more all around experience working at a weekly that will actually prepare you for a stint as a versatile editor. Convincing those riding a high horse of this though may be challenging. |
| colinmdevries | Posted – 12/9/2007 10:30:09 PM | show profile Thanks for the advice. I'm gonna keep sending my resume out. I've been reaching out to "faraway lands," meaning around an hour plus drive. Though now it's getting to the point where the commute is going to be costly and the pay I'll be getting might not be worth the money wasted for gas. I definitely believe I have to package my clips a little bit better. And now that I'm freelancing, with a little more freedom on my hands than a staffer, I might be able to enterprise a bit more and flex my abilities a bit more. Anyway, I appreciate the input and am not going to give up on journalism. I love it, and believe that I have enough confidence in my abilities to be a successful journalist. The foot I had in the door, however, has been pushed back a bit since my AmeriCorps experience. Nobody is biting my hook and I don't wanna give up on a career in journalism. But the realist in me is doubtful at times. So if you know of any openings out there for an eager and able young body, let me know where I can send my clips. ;-) |
| writesonwater | Posted – 12/9/2007 11:18:22 PM | show profile Depending on the daily, you may file between one and three stories a day -- fewer at a larger paper. It's unlikely that at a weekly you will have to write more than that range -- which would be from 5 to 15 stories a week. The smaller the paper, even a daily, the more likely you will do your own digital photography. In either position, expect (and hope) to do copy editing -- it's great experience. However, your big problem at this point is statistics. THe odds of finding a paper within a commuting distance that's looking for someone NOW cuts your chances down. And of someone reading THIS to tell you somewhere to apply that's within driving distance -- also low odds. Applying for jobs is a numbers business. Go WEST, young man -- or anywhere, just be willing to look past your local calling plan. |
| jkdscribe | Posted – 12/10/2007 5:53:36 AM | show profile From reading past posts I know writesonwater has much more experience than I, but I would just say that it's not impossible to find something close to home. You just have to make it happen. I say this only because I went west recently (that seems to be the answer for all young men doesn't it?) and though I got a great internship offer I had to turn it down because it was unpaid and I was worried about making rent. That said, go west if you can, but don't expect it will make finding a job easy, even if it is a tad easier. And as for the publications you're looking at, try just writing stories for them. Eventually they will have no choice but to know who you are, and if they accept your stuff--even if it takes a long time--not only are you a freelancer for them but when something opens up you know who they'll call. |
| jkdscribe | Posted – 12/10/2007 5:54:01 AM | show profile From reading past posts I know writesonwater has much more experience than I, but I would just say that it's not impossible to find something close to home. You just have to make it happen. I say this only because I went west recently (that seems to be the answer for all young men doesn't it?) and though I got a great internship offer I had to turn it down because it was unpaid and I was worried about making rent. That said, go west if you can, but don't expect it will make finding a job easy, even if it is a tad easier. And as for the publications you're looking at, try just writing stories for them. Eventually they will have no choice but to know who you are, and if they accept your stuff--even if it takes a long time--not only are you a freelancer for them but when something opens up you know who they'll call. |
