Future journalists of the world

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” It’s a simple enough question that we are all asked at some point during childhood. Some people decided their future career choice at a young age, while others enter college still unsure of what they want to do with their lives. This holds true for journalists as well. For whatever reason, each prospective journalist has his or her own unique reason for wanting to get into the business.

As long as I can remember, I have enjoyed writing. Throughout grade school and high school, my teachers consistently praised my writing as well. Senior year of high school, I took a class writing for my school paper. I really enjoyed the world of journalism and decided that I could see myself writing for a living. I entered college the following year. I had wanted to go to law school from an early age, and initially majored in political science just like me uncle, who is now a judge. After a few quarters of poli-sci and a few News Record articles, I decided that journalism would be a more viable career option if I failed to make it as a lawyer. So, now I am a few quarters away from graduation, still unsure about attending law school, but definitely sure that I chose the right major.

I have always loved sports and have been reading Sports Illustrated and the Cincinnati Enquirer for years. My dream job would be as a writer for SI. I would also love to write for ESPN The Magazine, The Sporting News, The Cincinnati Enquirer, the Los Angeles Times, or Amusement Today. I figure that if I do go through with law school, I could occasionally freelance for a newspaper or magazine.

With the current economic recession and the transition from paper to Internet news, I am somewhat worried about my job prospects after graduation, which right now is looking like March 2010. I believe that there will always be journalism jobs available, but they won’t be where I want and for what I want. I’m worried that the only job I’ll be able to get is covering some minor league baseball team in South Dakota or being a news reporter in Smalltownsville, Nebraska. This would be in stark contrast to my dream of working in a big city (like Cincinnati, New York, or LA) and writing for a widely read publication or covering a major league sports team. These are of course just my opinions on being a journalist.

I sent out listserv e-mail to the UC journalism majors. Twelve of the responses are listed below. Each person had a unique and interesting response to the questions of, “what do you want to do with your degree? What is your dream job?” and “With the economy in a recession, are you worried about future job prospects?”

Melissa K wants to go into the book publishing industry and would love to live in New York City. About future job prospects, she said, “I am a little fearful with the economy but I have hope for the future. I don't think people are going to stop reading books.”

Rose D. would like to write for a magazine like Entertainment Weekly or TV Guide. Her dream job, however, would be to write for a TV show. She has no faith in future job prospects, saying, “I am very worried about my job prospects. I have a journalist friend who lives in New York who has been looking for a job for two whole years. Now my "back-up" plan of being a journalist seems just as ridiculous as being a TV show writer.”

Bethany R. is still deciding her course of action. Her three interesting plans for using her journalism degree involve:
“A. I'm going to move to the Caribbean and start a pineapple picking plantation. All I want to do is pick pineapples and drink good rum underneath the stars.
B. After graduation, I'm going to fall in the fetal position and cry out of frustration and anxiety.
C. Pray that someone will hire me. I don't care where, I just want a job.”
These all seem like very “interesting” (yet sadly viable) options. Realistically, her dream job would be to be either an “off-beat music magazine editor” or an editor Bon Appetite. Bethany was confident about the existence of future job prospects, “I've been searching around online and there are plenty of jobs out there for journalists; they just have to know where to look. Small town papers are hiring right now and they are prospering despite what people say about the newspaper industry. People can't get their local news from national publications and because this, Podunk papers in Kentucky and Texas are thriving and hiring. However, my fall back jobs are garbage man or pineapple picker.”

Marielle M. would like to get into the magazine or public relations industry, ideals writing for a fashion/beauty magazine like Elle or Lucky. However, she is very worried about future job prospects and feels that she is, “going to need to develop some good connections in order to receive a satisfactory job, and definitely for my dream job.

Nayla P. also wants to be in the magazine industry, but dazes out at the thought of hopefully writing for High Times. Nayla is worried about future job prospects, “but I try to live in the present, and hope for a better future.”

Tiffany B. would like to write features for a magazine. She doesn’t have a current “dream job” and doesn’t really care where her future paychecks come from. She just wants to have a diverse career covering diverse stories and people. She is worried about future job prospects, noting that, “journalism was a hard field to succeed in when the economy was good, now that is seems to be in a continuous downward spiral I think that publishers will be forced to seed out the natural talent from those who have a "possible" talent.”

Amanda W. would like to write for a newspaper, although, “I am fully aware that it is a dying art. I may free lance for random magazines at my leisure but I'll try to avoid them for the most part.” She then goes on to counter this by saying that National Geographic would be her dream job. She wants to be able to, “travel and write freely about topics that are important to me. I don't care how popular the publication is - it's the doing and the living of the career that matters most.” She is worried about the economy but, “I have a plan B. I'll be an event planner who free lances on the side while fostering homeless dogs and/or cats and playing cameos in hot blockbuster movies.”

Keith R. has always wanted to be a writer, but chose journalism, “because it is a more viable career choice than my first love: creative writing.” He wants to write long narrative articles for magazines. He has kept busy through writing for the News Record and interning at a local magazine. He would love to write for National Geographic. He is hopeful about getting a future job, “I honestly don't feel that a finance major has any better job at landing a job than I do. I am still of the opinion that you can do whatever you put your mind to. Plus, why would you pursue anything other than what you love? If you go about building a resume and making the necessary contacts, the rest will fall into place. Then, if that fails, you can always consider putting off the inevitable by prolonging your education with grad school...”

Emily K. wants to write for a magazine and possibly explore radio. Her dream job is to write for Rolling Stone or to start her own magazine. She is not worried about future job prospects, saying, “if you want something bad enough, you'll find a way to make it happen. You might not find exactly what you want, but you'll make it work.”

Katelyn F. wants to write for a fashion magazine like Vogue, Harpers, Bazar, or Vanity Fair and would also like to start her own magazine. She also is not very worried about the economy.

Elizabeth L. is in the magazine track, but doesn’t want to move out of Cincinnati, “since marriage makes moving awkward for me, and since I did not spend five years in school for a day job, I'll probably look outside journalism for a career. Writing and copy looks like fun, or maybe copy-editing. At the very least, studying journalism has sharpened my writing skills.”
Elizabeth game some insight into the economic situation, saying, “ I wonder if people are using The Economy as an excuse to give up on job searching, saying, "It stinks so I'm not even going to touch it." Whine, whine, whine. The fact is, even if we sink into a second Great Depression, with unemployment around 20%, there are still a lot of other countries in the world that would trade places with us in a millisecond. And not just third world countries -- Italy would love to have our current unemployment rate.”

Susan L. would like to work for a magazine like National Geographic. She is worried about the future, saying, “I was hoping that over the next few years things would start to clear up but it doesn't seem like that will be the case.

The majority of these respondents would like to work in the magazine industry. This is not a surprise, since the newspaper industry is on the decline, while the magazine industry remains relatively stable. National Geographic seems like a particularly popular choice. I was somewhat surprised that none of the respondents said that they would be interested in becoming a sports writer. However, nine of the ten respondents were females and the majority of writers at sports magazines are males. Regardless, the future of journalism is overall filled with prospective magazine writers who are somewhat worried about future job prospects.