Paul Basken

I just had a phone interview with reporter Paul Basken, of the Chronicle of Higher Education. That is a newspaper stationed in Washington, D.C. in case you all did not know, and he's had 25 years of experience in the journalism industry. 

From what I understood from this interview, he said that people have been saying that jobs in the journalism/media industry are hard to get. People have been saying that for a long time - since the 80s and before. The industry is a bit dodgey, but there are still jobs within the journalism industry. A sign of hope for those of us trying to find jobs in journalism. 

The important thing to know is the model for journalism to make it in the economy should not be based on geography or advertising - but subject-matter. Therefore, no matter where you are writing for a newspaper, magazine, online, or tv broadcast, the subjects and content talked about in the media outlet are the sole most important factors the organization has to offer to the public. 

He brought to light that if you know what you want to write about, or have an idea of what you want to specialize in, now is the time to do your research, find the articles you find appealing or that you would want to write, and contact the editors. Freelancing has a stronger and much higher percentage of success for you when it comes to thinking about how you are going to make it as a journalist or reporter. 

He just said to keep on writing - do what I'm doing, get some more content or topics to write about (i.e. politics would be a great thing to get into right now) and narrow your subject-material with the more experience you get. 

I'll have more to add later, because it's good to have a mentor in my opinion.