| Ever since
I registered my domain name, I've been getting a trickle of inquiries from
kids writing reports on journalists. Most of them aren't sure what
exactly "freelance" and "intern" really mean, so I go ahead and try to
answer their questions about the writing life. Posted below is a
polished version of one such reply. Think of it as answers to FAQ
about my life. I'll try to update it as I think of others, and of
course welcome any similar inquiries.
Name, profession, where
you live, etc.
Andrew Curry,
student/freelance journalist, living at Stanford University in Palo Alto,
California and moving to Washington, DC in mid-June.
What inspired you to be
a journalist?
I worked as
the entertainment editor at my college paper and loved the deadline pressure
and the opportunity to write and express myself. As I did other kinds
of writing, I decided that journalism was a great way to learn new things
and write at the same time.
What type of education
did you need in order to become a journalist?
Nothing specific
-- I read a lot as a kid, and found the most useful experience to be lots
and lots of writing. I have a Bachelor's of Science in Foreign Service
from Georgetown University and
in two months will have a Master's of Arts in Russian and East European
Studies from Stanford University.
One other thing
-- if you're looking at colleges, going to a journalism school isn't necessarily
better than doing a regular degree. And even if you do go to journalism
school, be sure to take lots of other courses. Journalists should be well
rounded, intellectually curious people, I think.
What inspires you when
writing your articles?
The subject
matter, the deadline or the money. It is a job, after all.
Another big
part of it is the thrill of seeing my byline in print -- the articles I
wrote for US News and World Report were printed as many as 6 million times
and could be found in any bookstore or newspaper stand in the country.
When I wrote for newspapers people I knew who didn't know the article was
coming out would sometimes see my name and call me up. It's a good
feeling.
For a while
I worked as a copy editor (they
proofread all the articles, write headlines and do the newspaper's layout)
which was challenging work. We got no credit whatsoever, though, which
was a bummer -- especially since far more people read newspaper headlines
and photo captions than the articles.
Do you have any advice
for aspiring journalists?
Write. Write a lot.
Read even more.
Oh -- and don't
let rejection get you down. I'm going back to work at U.S.
News this summer, and before they offered me a position I think I got
rejection letters from 14 or 15 papers. There's a lot of competition, and
it's hard to keep going sometimes, but hopefully you land a job you like
eventually and things work out from there.
How do people respond
to your articles?
I've never made
a serious mistake in an article, so I never have people calling me to make
corrections, but I've had people disagree with columns I wrote for my college
paper and tell me so to my face.
More often
(thankfully) they like the topic or want to share an angle they think I
didn't pay enough attention to. Community journalism pieces I've written
have inspired people to go help the organizations I wrote about, which
made me feel great.
Is it sometimes difficult
to find information?
Yes, very.
But that's part of the thrill -- if you know the information's out there,
when you finally find it it's like uncovering hidden treasure. And
when there's the added stress of finding it under deadline pressure, that
thrill is even more intense.
Were you recognized as
a journalist right away, or did it take time?
I'm not sure
what you mean. There's no official certificate you get; the
fact that you e-mailed me to ask questions came as a bit of a
surprise, so I'm not sure
I even recognize myself as a journalist. I'm
still on the low end of
the business. I think anyone who writes articles (not columns or
opinion pieces, necessarily) for a newspaper or magazine could be considered
a journalist.
What was your first journalistic
job?
Staff writer
for the Georgetown Hoya.
Are the hours rough?
It depends.
Freelancers can make their own hours. I worked as a night copy aide
at The Washington Post for a while, and sometimes my shifts were 7 p.m.
to 3 a.m. As a copy editor at The
Miami Herald I worked 3 p.m. to midnight five or six nights a week.
Regular reporters can have different hours, but they all share one thing
in common -- when there's a big deadline or crisis, everyone stays until
the paper's done. You can't turn things in late or not do them, because
the paper has to come out no matter what.
Anything else you would
like to add?
If you're curious
about how newspapers really work, call your local newspaper and ask for
a tour. Newsrooms are exciting places.
Also, watch
"All the President's Men."
It's about how two metro reporters at The Washington Post brought down
the Nixon presidency. A lot of journalists in the business today
were drawn to the industry because of the Watergate scandal and the respect
and glamor it conferred on newspapers.
A great website
for people curious about journalism careers is the Detroit
Free Press Jobspage, which has a whole section just for high
school students interested in journalism. The recruiter there might
answer an e-mail, too. To see the Holy Grail of newspaper internships,
check out the Post's internship
page. The bios are scary reading.
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