Journalism 101

A whole lot of media shaking took place Thursday on the campus of Cal Poly Pomona.

During the school’s annual “Com Day,” students got to listen to blogger-turned-author Julie Powell (Julie and Julia), Pulitzer Prize winning LA Times photographer Barbara Davison, Los Angeles Angels vp of communications Tim Mead and talent agent Danny Sussman. Then it was time for the school to honor a well-known local news personality.

Laura Diaz, until recently a fixture at CBS LA, was the guest of honor at the Hilda L. Solis Scholarship dinner and reception. She was there to accept the 2012 Nopal Award.

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Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.

Under-the-radar locales make for great stories in any travel mag, but, add a Hollywood hook, and editors at this Airtran mag can’t help but hop on board.

In honor of the 40th anniversary of the iconic movie Deliverance , a freelancer pitched and published a story to GO showcasing Georgia’s Tallulah Gorge, where the movie was filmed. The location (about an hour and a half outside of Atlanta) is a popular tourist destination not just because of its place in American pop culture, but also due to the richness of the region and wealth of activities for nature lovers, from whitewater rafting to hiking.

“We’re always looking for new writers with great stories,” said Jaime Lowe, GO‘s executive editor. “A great idea always wins. If there’s an excellent travel narrative, we’ll assign it.” Get more details in How To Pitch: GO.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

If you’re a foodie with a fully stamped passport, Afar editors want to hear your stories, but only if your far-reaching adventures break away from the tourist traps and allow you to enjoy indigenous, authentically prepared meals.

And it will take more than a simple recipe to cinch the deal. Editors want queries centered around a local authentic dish, putting it in a historical context and exploring how it connects to the people and community that birthed it.

“So it’s not food as food, but food as culture,” editor-in-chief Julia Cosgrove emphasized.

Get contact info for editors and more guidelines in How To Pitch: Afar.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

Is any publicity good publicity? Not when the topic of the USA TODAY article is U.S. college newspaper woes and the editor of Harbor Tides at Los Angeles Harbor College is the lede:

Joseph Valdez says he has seen his newspaper’s budget “cut drastically” the past two years. His print paper may soon be eliminated, as the push continues to take news to what many see as newspapers’ ultimate destination: the Internet, with all of its uncertain profitability…

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Unlike the gossip and innuendo rampant in the blogosphere, Sister 2 Sister routinely gets its information from the stars themselves. Whether Halle Berry‘s ex-husband Eric Benet was denying a reported sex addiction or Tamar Braxton and hubby Vince Herbert were dishing about their upcoming reality show, it was S2S that often got stars to open up when other publications couldn’t.

“Our mission is to try to teach,” explained senior editor Ericka Boston. “So, we’ll talk to the entertainers about the lessons that they’ve learned from whatever experiences they’ve gone through, and it’s more so about achieving an understanding, as opposed to just fishing for a headline.”

Although there’s little room in the print magazine for outside Q&As with celebs, freelancers can still pitch their entertainment stories to S2SMagazine.com. But, “Be prepared to include multimedia in your pitch,” Boston advised.

For more details and Boston’s contact info, read How To Pitch: Sister 2 Sister.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

While Inc. occupies the same shelf space of other business publications like Entrepreneur, Fast Company and Forbes, the magazine has a distinction that separates itself from its competitors.

“We are a magazine about people who are incredibly passionate and have the will to start a business from scratch,” said Alexandra Brez, managing editor. ”We are different because of our sophistication, as well as our connection to and interest in community events. And we are a very likable brand. People are proud to be featured by us.”

Get pitching guidelines and information on open sections in How To Pitch: Inc.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

Columbia Journalism Review columnist Justin D. Martin thinks it’s time for newspapers like the LA Times and Washington Post to stop referring to single, foreign-posted employees as a bureau. Combing through a 2011 American Journalism Review report, he found for example that eight of the LAT’s ten foreign “bureaus” consist of just a single employee:

I’m aware that the difference between being called a “bureau chief” rather than “correspondent” at some news organizations is similar to the difference between assistant and associate professors at universities: the coronation often nets greater job security and a bump in salary (and in some cases demands greater responsibilities). Still, journalists are supposed to use clear language. Period. A bureau in one’s bedroom is a chest of multiple drawers, and a furniture peddler who refers to a banker’s box as a bureau is being dishonest.

Another funny way Martin makes his case is to note that he is not the Columbia Journalism Review’s bureau chief in Orono, Maine. Rather, he is simply a columnist for CJR who happens to live in New England.

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Sure, unpaid internships are the backbone of countless media and film companies in LA, but that doesn’t mean they’re all effective or even legal. Just look at Harper’s Bazaar, Charlie Rose and the movie Black Swan – all companies were hit with lawsuits over unpaid work by former interns.

So, avoid all the headaches by first re-evaluating your hiring process. ”Haphazardly hiring interns can be a huge waste of time for both the intern and the company,” said Marc Scoleri, co-founder and CEO of creativeinterns.com.

Instead, think of the internship as an investment and plan accordingly. “An interview and discussion about the candidates’ skills, future plans and career interests will help clarify if the candidate will be a good match — and possibly a future employee,” he said.

For more tips on developing a mutually beneficial program, check out 7 Things That Are Ruining Your Company’s Internship Program.

This article is exclusively available to mediabistro.com AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

 

This glossy prides itself on being the only American mag that speaks to a key demographic: wives and moms, women who want to celebrate — not just survive — the young family years. So editors are looking for service-y pieces to guide these women in their 30s and 40s through a “happy but hectic life stage.”

That includes a wide variety of topics, like health, money and food, along with features on marriage, relationships, family and amazing ‘real woman’ stories. And freelancers get full rein of the the majority of the glossy, including a philanthropy page titled ”Be Part of the Solution.”

Get more details in How To Pitch: Redbook.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

On his Lost Angeles WordPress bio page, USC alum Zack Jerome bypasses the usual Pro forma descriptions. Instead, he refers to himself as everything from “Los Angeles’ premiere whiskey punk and existentially drunken blogger” to “like Don Draper, but bourbon, not rye.”

The one-time LAist.contributor and recipient of a 2011 Most Valuable Blogger Award from CBSLA was back at his Alma Mater yesterday for a Director’s Forum presentation sponsored by the Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism. Per a report in the Daily Trojan, Jerome raised the specter of, arguably, the patron saint of first-person blogging:

As a self-proclaimed believer in Gonzo journalism, a style of journalism that does not claim objectivity, Jerome supports outlets for the reporter to be part of the story, which allows him to write freely. “What won’t go away is the human need to connect,” Jerome said. “It’s a gift to have writers people want to read.”

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