Use listserv to compile a list of links relating to
opportunities for faculty mid-career opportunities to get back into
the newsroom, agency, etc.
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What I Did on My
Summer Vacation:
Lessons Learned
Brad
Thompson
Penn State University
After 10 years out of the newspaper business, I
decided I needed to refresh my skills. So last summer I worked for
six weeks on the copy desk of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
As the major paper in the state where I teach, the Inquirer had
offered internships to a number of my students and others from our
program over the years. This process helped me get to know some of
the key editors at the paper, which led to my being hired.
My first week on the job was an intense learning experience. The
editing process had not changed much, but the computer system was
totally new. Although I am moderately comfortable working in the
Wintel environment, I never felt completely comfortable with the
newspaper's computer system.
The problem with the computer system was that I had to edit the
story under one slug, write the headline(s) and any liftout quotes
under one or more other slugs, write the captions under still other
slugs (one for each picture), and edit any boxes under still more
slugs. I felt really sorry for two job candidates who sat near me
during their one-week tryouts. Not only did they have to impress the
editors with their editing proficiency, but they also had to do it
while learning how to operate a difficult computer system.
The experience of returning to the newsroom taught me several
lessons that I will take back to the classroom. First, there is
nothing "intuitive" about computer systems. I generally figured most
students knew as much or more about computers as I did. After all,
someone in the dorms is ripping all those CDs. Widespread computer
literacy is not necessarily a given. Even if students are
comfortable in the Apple world, for example, they may be clueless in
Windows. Just as my editors at the Inquirer did for me, I will try
to show a lot more understanding for students who need to learn new
computer systems or programs for my classes.
Second, even though I have 16 years of daily newspaper
experience, most of it on a major metro, I can still write a
headline with an error in it. And just to prove the point I did so
twice at the Inquirer. Fortunately, in one of those cases, the slot
caught my mistake so it didn't appear in the paper. The lesson I
learned here is that while I can have high expectations, they need
to be realistic. I will still hold my students to high standards,
but I have to be even more aware that even the best of them cannot
be perfect. If I give them enough assignments over a long enough
period of time, a few mistakes should not ruin a superior grade.
The third lesson I will take back to the classroom is a renewed
enthusiasm for journalism. While jobs may be scarce and salaries
low, this is a great time to be in a newsroom. Terrorism, chads, the
stock market yo-yoing and so much more news of real consequence
nationally and internationally is happening. Not to mention local
issues. The trick is not so much how to make the stories relevant to
students, but how to get them to take the time to read the papers
and watch the news. The relevance will be obvious. I know my summer
"vacation" has renewed my enthusiasm for journalism; I just hope
it's contagious.
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Get Ready for
Kansas City!
A Preview of ICIG's events and
panels
Anne Hoag, ICIG Secretary/Newsletter
Editor/Webmaster
Penn State University
Two mini-plenaries, Scholar-to-Scholar
research, teaching panels, a PF&R session and more! We have much
to look forward to in Kansas City. Von Whitmore, our new Program
Chair, arrived in Palo Alto last month for the mid-Winter meeting
and quickly mastered the byzantine chip auction system. She has
assembled the most diverse, multi-issue ICIG schedule ever. Just a
few of the topics are: internships for special populations (disabled
students, ESL students), sexism and racism in the academy, the state
of online journalism education and the impact on careers in
advertising and PR from the rise of IMC. We've partnered with seven
other divisions and interest groups to produced this program. Just
take a look at the schedule
(which I'll update with speaker info as it becomes available)!
This is also a special invitation to you to join us for the
Members Meeting on Thursday, July 31 at 6:45 p.m. Note the new name
of this event -- MEMBERS meeting. The Council of Divisions decided
this year to dispatch the former name, "Business Meeting" in favor
of this more accurate term. This is truly YOUR meeting, so do come!
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Research
Notes
Marian Azzaro, ICIG Research Chair
Roosevelt University
It's
never too late or too early to start thinking about research
submissions for the Internships and Careers Interest Group (ICIG) of
AEJMC. Watch your mail and the listserv for the AEJMC uniform call
for papers; the deadline for paper submissions for the 2003 summer
conference will be April 1, 2003. With our call we will invite
submissions of papers exploring the internship and career planning
interests of students in all fields of Journalism and Mass
Communication including Advertising and Public Relations. Relevant
themes from research papers presented at past conferences cover a
range of topics including the use of internship supervisor
evaluations for program assessment, the perceptions of students
regarding the value of internships, intern versus employer
internship expectations, and the benefits of internal college
internships.
For the coming year we would like to encourage research on the
career counseling/career development side in addition to the great
internship research we have already seen. Perhaps a study of student
perspectives on career services support at universities, or an
analysis of career outlooks across the many fields of Journalism and
Mass Communications. I find myself wondering these days about the
impact of these many new books about the "death" of advertising (for
example: "The Fall of Advertising and The Rise of PR" by Al and
Laura Ries, and "The End of Advertising As We Know It" by Sergio
Zymen). I wonder whether such books will influence students in their
academic studies and career choices.
Whatever your research idea, circle April 1, 2003 on your
calendar and make plans to join us in Kansas City. Contact me with
any questions, or to volunteer as a reviewer of paper submissions,
at mailto:mazzaro@roosevelt.edu
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A Meeting of
Minds
Evonne H. (Von) Whitmore, ICIG Vice-Head &
Program Chair
Kent State University
Pure
bliss. That's the feeling which came over me when I attended ICIG's
business meeting at the AEJMC convention in Miami. At last, I was
with kindred spirits. They were colleagues who feel as strongly as I
do, about the value of internships and career development. Although
I had attended many of ICIG's panel sessions in previous
conventions, I had never attended a business meeting. It was long
overdue. For the past two years I've been the internship coordinator
for Kent State's School of Journalism and Mass Communication's
Electronic Media Sequence. Enough said. No wonder I jumped at the
opportunity to work with ICIG members as the 2002-2003 vice head and
program chair. It may sound corny but, too me, it truly is an honor
and a privilege. I have five simple goals for the upcoming
year:
It was
good hearing from those of you inside and outside of the Internships
and Careers Interest Group with your suggestions about how to
develop the ICIG Web site. With so many programs experiencing a
decrease in job and internship opportunities, such an effort seems
quite timely.