Sunday is Easter, when Jesus allegedly rose from the dead. (I’m Jewish, so I have my doubts.)
At many college newspapers, the end of April is also editor selection season – when the careers of a few student journalists are similarly resurrected.
Melodramatic? Sacrilegious? Maybe. But here are some stats that should put the fear of God in you…
Only 46 percent of journalism grads will find media work right out of school, and 10 percent of them won’t even land a single job interview, MediaBistro reported last summer.
Yet every year, a couple of students get media jobs after getting their diplomas from the mediocre university where I advise the weekly newspaper. What’s so special about them? They served as editor of that newspaper.
Even so, there’s never much competition for our top spot. It’s the same around the country. Whenever I chat with my fellow advisers, they’re always fretting about their staff’s apathy – or even antipathy – toward seeking the editorship.
“Why doesn’t anyone want to be in charge anymore!?” one of them emailed me last year. “What’s wrong with students today?”
My answer: “Nothing’s wrong with them today that wasn’t wrong with them yesterday.”
Being the editor has always been a bitch – a full-time job for part-time pay, the staff challenging your authority at every turn, and readers blaming you for any mistake they find in the paper. And you still have to go to class.
In fact, the job is tougher today than when I was a college editor back in the 1980s. Tuition seems to rise daily like the sun, the classes you need to graduate are scheduled as often as your birthday, and now there’s a daily website on top of a print edition.
But if you want a media career, you should do it anyway. Here are five good reasons, although you can probably guess only the first one…
1. It’s one hell of a resume line.
Most student newspapers elect editors only once or twice a year. So it’s a title that instantly separates you from the thousands of other j-school grads who flood the job market every December and June. (See 7 mistakes that doom a college journalist’s resume.)
It doesn’t even matter if you were a good editor or the worst one in your paper’s history. Because…
2. You win even if you suck.
Some student journalists don’t run for editor because they’re afraid they’ll screw up and scar their career. What a crock.
Unless you burned the newsroom to the ground or got yourself sued in a high-profile libel case, only the hiring editors at the media outlet within spitting distance of your campus will be even vaguely aware of the actual job you did.
And even then, they won’t give a crap.
Remember, you work at a student newspaper. You go there to learn how to write, edit, shoot, design – and lead. No one expects you to channel Ben Bradlee, H.L. Mencken, and Jonah Jameson. (Google the first two; the third is the editor from Spider-Man.)
In your job interview, if you’re asked about being editor, say this: “It was the hardest job I’ve had so far in my short life, and I made some big mistakes.” If the hiring editor silently leans forward a little bit, explain your blunders in all their gory details. You’ll probably get the job.
Why? Because you’re not going to be hired as a senior editor right out of school – you’ll be handed entry-level work, not a staff to supervise. So if your clips are strong, your editorship matters only for what you learned, not for the quality of the work you did.
Speaking of job interviews…
3. You’ll ace every job interview for the rest of your life.
Most student newspapers hold public interviews for editor. (Some private universities do this behind closed doors, which smacks of hypocrisy. Since when do journalists demand openness from everyone but themselves?)
Just contemplating the interview process is enough to scare off some students. At the paper I advise, I hear this all the time: “I don’t want to put myself through that.”
But the more brutal the interview, the better – for you and everyone else.
In the mid-’80s, I was editor of The Alligator, the University of Florida’s student newspaper and still the largest by circulation. I ran for editor four times, losing twice before winning twice. Each time was edifying and terrifying.
While I’m not sure how much it’s been sanitized since, back then an Alligator editor selection was a public spectacle – only a tad less bloody than the ancient Romans in the Coliseum feeding Christians to the lions.
Imagine…
You’re sitting in front of 30 staff members and a selection panel that includes the chairman of the journalism department, a professional adult, the current editor, and a grad student and undergrad student who aren’t journalists at all.
If you answer a question lamely, you get called out in front of everyone.
“What would you do to increase diversity in the newsroom?”
“Well, diversity is really important and –”
“Yes, and crime is bad. Just answer the question, please.”
“Well, I’d talk to minority groups and recruit –”
“Which minority groups?”
“Uh, all of them.”
“You don’t really have any fresh ideas, do you?”
“Uh, I guess not.”
For 12 years, I advised the University Press, the student newspaper at Florida Atlantic University, and I mimicked The Alligator editor selection as best I could.
But Student Affairs deemed it “emotional terrorism” and last year changed it to the standard, boring Student Government-like selection process – you know the kind, where the toughest question is, “What’s your definition of leadership?”
Problem is, no real-world job interview operates like an SG interview. To be fair, none are as bloodthirsty as an Alligator selection, either. But which one better prepares you?
Since 1987, I’ve never feared a job interview. I hear all the time from UP editors who tell me the same. My favorite story: In 2008, a former editor named Jake applied to work at PETA in Washington, D.C. The interview lasted all day, with different configurations of bosses and employees peppering him with questions and scenarios. I asked him how it went.
“A breeze.”
Really?
“It reminded me of editor selection, and I just drew on that experience. No problem.”
He got the job.
Jake later emailed me…
Running for editor prepared me for every job interview, blind date and social confrontation I’ve ever walked into. I have actually been surprised at how calm I am when being interviewed for a new job. The tedious process of being grilled for an hour and having every editorial flaw you have committed shoved in your face makes the awkward handshaking with a potential employer out to be a nice day at the beach.
One last point: If I’ve convinced you that running for editor is good for your future, let me now reassure it’s even better for your present. Because if you survive a rigorous editor selection, you’ll instantly command the staff’s respect.
Let’s face it, being editor sucks when you suddenly oversee a bunch of your peers. It’s no problem exerting your authority over newbies who stroll into the newsroom after you’re elected editor. As far as they’re concerned, you’ve always been the editor.
But what about the staffers who went drinking with you last weekend and saw you throw up on your car? Even the Army moves a new officer out of his unit, because it realizes you can’t lead people who remember you as just a soldier.
No such luck at a student newspaper. You don’t get transferred from FAU to Medill.
But if you endure a trial by fire like an editor selection – one that your peers maintain, “I don’t want to put myself through that” – you’ve earned their loyalty as a leader.
In fact, the FAU staff I advise so relishes the “emotional terrorism” of our old editor selection that we’re still doing it – it just doesn’t count.
On Friday, three candidates are running in our “fake editor selection.” They and the staff asked me to do this, because they all see the greedy value in it, Student Affairs be damned.
Which leads me to this…
4. You’ll embrace the Dark Side.
Most hiring editors I know – and I was one myself – feel a little more comfortable around a young journalist who’s sat in the big chair. We figure you’ve confronted, at least for a semester, some of the same problems and crappy attitudes we do every day.
That’s because employees who have never run anything bigger than their own lives tend to be self-centered. They also hate their bosses for decisions they don’t remotely understand. It’s even worse with journalists, who are notoriously hyper-sensitive.
For instance, reporters feel slighted if their editor doesn’t recall the details of a pointless, protracted conversation they had two days ago – even though that editor has a staff of 12 time-sucking prima donnas doing the same insipid thing.
But you’ve been there before, and being the boss can make you a better employee. In this case, you might be a tad more forgiving and understanding of your editor’s burden. And speaking of burdens…
5. You’ll learn some serious shit no professor can teach you.
Being editor of your student newspaper is the first time you’ll ever be in charge of something substantial without an adult wielding veto power.
At FAU, that means you oversee an $80,000 budget. You hire the staff. And if any adults try to fuck with your freedom of the press, you call other adults who defend you (like the UP editor did last year).
This is heady stuff, and you’ll learn through osmosis some really big Life Lessons…
1. Delegate or die. Up until now, you’ve kicked ass by doing instead of delegating. Group project for a class? You picked up the slack for the losers who did nothing. Waiting tables for collective tips? You out-hustled everyone for your share. But a student newspaper has too many moving parts to handle deftly by yourself. You’ve always harshly judged those who don’t work like you do, but now you’re forced to train and motivate them. You’ll become more compassionate, or you’ll fail.
2. Dish it out and take it. Nothing makes you appreciate presidents Bush and Obama quite like being editor. No one ever tells an editor, “Thanks for all you do.” And if anything goes wrong in the paper or in the newsroom, you’ll get blamed even if you had nothing to do with it. You’ll become a lot more nuanced about your criticism of others after you’ve faced unfounded criticism yourself.
3. Save some or none at all. Being in charge means doing your best with scarce resources. Ever heard of the word “triage”? It’s a military term meaning to save as many wounded soldiers as you can – by letting the worst-hurt die. Likewise, you have neither the time nor money to save your entire newspaper. Some sections and some staffers will perish so you can excel where you deem best for your readers. It’s easy to rip leaders who make such tough calls. It’s hard to be the one making them – and explaining them.
4. Size doesn’t matter, decisions do. As editor of a large student daily and now an adviser at a small student weekly, I can tell you this: It’s better to be the editor at a crappy newspaper than a reporter at an award-winning newspaper. You’ll learn more about journalism and life being big in a small pond than being small in a big pond. And you’ll be forever skeptical of artifice – if someone tells you they graduated from Harvard (as my grandfather did) you won’t assume they’re a genius (my grandfather sure wasn’t). You’ll judge them on what they do, not on who they are.
6. If it doesn’t kill you, it makes you.
Surviving a term as college editor is like surviving cancer. As someone who’s done both, I can tell you: You’ll no longer sweat the small stuff. You’ll become just a little bit braver about your decisions and a little bit bolder about your journalism.
Winston Churchill once said, “There is nothing more exhilarating than to be shot at without incident.” He would’ve made an excellent college newspaper editor.
Having read the three college-related posts on this blog, I’m somewhat shocked that a 45-year-old man (according to one of those posts) would continually insult journalism professors as he does.
I find it difficult to believe a mature adult would write such inflammatory and profanity-laced advice, or that a mature adult would contend his personal experiences outweighs that of hundreds of professors at dozens of prestigious journalism schools.
So I must conclude: This wasn’t written by a mature adult.
I can only hope the impressionable young people reading this trype don’t fall for it. (A student told me about this miniscule blog, but thankfully, I haven’t heard of anyone else being aware of it. Given the level of discourse, I expect intelligent students will keep away or at least not return.)
Obviously, you are a failed professor, or someone who never acheived that status. So you feel the need to lash out now. What a pity.
Dear anonymous prof:
I’m not offended by your opinion. After everything I’ve written, how hypocritical would that be? But six quick points…
1. Yeah, I DO believe I know more than many (but certainly not all) journalism professors – because I’ve worked in journalism much longer and more recently than they have.
2. Lumping 100 professors together doesn’t make them smarter than me, just as lumping 100 Big Macs together doesn’t make them tastier than prime rib.
3. The profs I respect most are the ones who also advise student media, because they work closely with student journalists, instead of just talking at them. (Google a groovy group called College Media Advisers, Inc.)
4. If students aren’t buying what I’m selling, fine by me. The more dumb-asses out there, the more good jobs are reserved for the keen ones.
5. I’ve never aspired to become a professor. I can’t think of a more emotionally draining career than standing in front of 20-30 students 2-3 times a week, and only 5-10 are really listening. I don’t have the mental resilience for that, and I truly respect all professors who do. Even you.
6. While you find it hard to believe my “inflammatory and profanity-laced advice,” I find it hard to believe a professor who can’t spell “tripe” and “achieved.”
– Koretzky
Hi Professor,
I’ve been a professional out of school for 2 1/2 years and my “journalism” degree had absolutely nothing to do with it. In fact, if I could’ve gone to school just to work at the student newspaper, I would have.
I got a job a week after graduation — when journalists were getting laid off in one of the largest media markets in the country. When that wasn’t enough for me, I was #6 here: http://journoterrorist.com/2011/04/06/9-mistakes-that-crush-a-college-journalists-career/
Granted, I don’t update THAT blog anymore because it got me enough freelance work that it isn’t really that necessary right now (but the name is adorable, right? I know. I’m funny.)
I also have respect for professors, but the ones that educate students to make their own decisions, not follow in their footsteps. When your student showed you this blog, did you respond with “This is horse shit!” or, “What do YOU think about it?” Giving them choices is the hardest thing they will ever have to accept. However, they will be grateful for it, and remember you fondly for it, too.
If you are angry about what was written here, you had to struggle as a journalism student (or a professor). I hope that if this blog is that offensive to you, you make a rebuttal. From personal experience, Koretzky prefers debate over silence. In fact, staying silent is showing him he won.
-Dori
Loved CMA NYC 11 (and 10), love this blog post, love that I just got hired for my second semester as EIC. Good job Koretzky. Keep writing in a way that resonates with college journalists… you capture the spirit of it all.
As much as we’d love to sit and listen to two straight hours of lecture (Note sarcasm.), it’s posts and conversations like this that inspire students. Koretzky has spoken all over the country and lit fires under each of our asses. He speaks to us in a language we can connect with and his wit and reality checks are refreshing.
Koretzky, you’ve got an army of students behind you across the nation. Please keep talking!
[...] In a new post, the self-proclaimed Journoterrorist does not mince words about a college newspaper editorship’s difficulties– at one point it’s compared only slightly tongue-in-cheek to surviving cancer. But JT also lays out a half dozen perks, personal ones, away from the general idealistic benefits of informing others and spreading truth. [...]
I love reading your opinions and advice. I completely agree after listening to what you had to say in this. Although I haven’t aced the two interviews for editor I’ve had in my life (I didn’t get the job both times), I’ve gained more than enough experience on how to handle myself in an interview and what kind of questions I should prepare for. Your posts are very relevant to college journalists, and while some people may not like them, keep on doing what you’re doing. Great job.
This is the first post of yours I’ve come across, but I have to say I love it. I just survived my editor selection and got the job. I officially start in about two weeks. I’ve really enjoyed this post and I will definitely be back. Thanks for what you do.
[...] post made the rounds earlier this week to much derision, mainly because the author, who goes by the name [...]
Grow up, Mr. Koretsky. Let’s see, you were suspended from the UF journalism program, fired by the Sun Sentinel and ousted as the advisor to the Florida Atlantic University newspaper. Yeah, you’re smart, but what have you accomplished in your career other than apparently being a pain in the ass for your school’s administation? Yes, you are the Che of college newspaper advising, but I’ve seen (a while ago) the product your charges produce, and it doesn’t even measure up to high school newspapers. Yes, you’re a good blogger and students like you because you are irreverant. But what have you really contributed to journalism? Have any of the student you advised distinguished themselves in the profession other than working as bloggers or for alternative weeklies? You’re just a Pied Piper with no real credentials. You’ll probably be as angry and jobless when you are 70. I feel sorry for you.
Jose:
I really can’t argue with your appraisal of me. My wife says I need to “grow up,” my mom says I’m a “a pain in the ass,” and my dad says I have “no real credentials.” But when you attack the students, I get all protective and explanatory.
I suppose I could list their achievements – multiple Florida College Journalists of the Year, reporters at Top 100 newspapers, hiring editors at smaller ones – but I doubt that will sway you.
I can only hope you “contribute to journalism” yourself in some meaningful way. Alas, that might prove difficult when you can’t spell “administation,” “irreverant,” or my name. Which is…
– Koretzky
“Jose,”
I see you still can’t spell Koretzky’s name, and that you’re still following him around eight months later. I can’t imagine what deep, personal affront he committed to merit your obsession, but you’re the one I feel sorry for.
Yes, I was editor-in-chief of both my HS yearbook (which was published in issues like a magazine, very innovative) and college paper back in the Iron Age. I loved this post. I actually covertly campaigned to become editor both times — there was no interview; it was an appointment by the faculty adviser. But it taught me everything you mentioned here. How to lead was a bonus. Did it help me get my first job? No. My first job was wife of a PGA Tour player and mother to 4 boys. But has it helped me in my 30 year freelance career as a writer for magazines, as an editor, and in my marketing communications business? Absolutely.
Well done, you! — And thanks for the laughs, too.
Marci:
In 2005, I advised an editor who was pregnant. She had a boy, then another two years later. She told me, “Being editor was the best prep for being mom – I already knew how to handle immature boys who lie with big doe eyes and love grossing everyone out.”
I’m going to write a future post about how being editor prepares you not just for journalism, but for life.
– Koretzky
[...] loving this new journalism blogger! Top greedy reasons to be a college newspaper editor. They are true, [...]
As a recent journalism school grad (CU-Boulder, Dec ’10) who managed to land a job in a new media forum a month before graduation, I have to say, most of the professors were worthless compared to what I learned from my experience from the student media. I wasn’t EIC, but held photo/managing editor positions for nearly three years. With the exception of one or two adjunct instructors or profs still working as professionals, the faculty was pretty horrendous.
Not really a surprise though, since my school was so dysfunctional it just shut down.