By: Lynn Walsh

Newsrooms, classrooms, in the field or at home, young and new journalists are working everywhere.

In honor of the hard work and innovative news ideas they bring to the news industry and to the Society of Professional Journalists, the SPJ Generation J and Membership committees would like to take one day a month to highlight and honor them.

Once a month the Generation J committee will work with the SPJ Membership committee to identify a current SPJ member that fits the Gen J profile.

What is the profile of a Gen J member?

They are early-stage professional journalists that are working to sharpen their skills while recognizing the importance of journalism advocacy.

With so many of us out there, myself included, we want to give you a chance to shine. The blog will post every month on the fifth and will be produced through a variety of news mediums.

We want the feature to best highlight the journalist in the format they work with on a daily basis. If they are a TV journalist we want to use video. If they are a photojournalist we want to show you who they are through pictures.

The posts will show you what they are currently doing in the industry and where they want to go. It will be an opportunity to hear how they got there and why they have decided to stick with the news industry even though it may not always be smooth sailing.

The Gen J committee is excited to be partnering with the Membership committee and is even more excited to provide a platform for journalists to share their passions, positions and thoughts about the future of news.

Think you or someone you know would make a great Gen J Feature? Contact me and let me know why, the only criteria is that they are currently a member of SPJ.

Lynn Walsh is an Investigative Producer for WPTV in West Palm Beach, Florida. Her passion is producing investigations that hold people accountable and provide much-needed answers to the public. She is obsessed with news, social media and pop culture and loves spending time with family and friends. Share your thoughts with her on Twitter @LWalsh or e-mail her, Lynn.K.Walsh@gmail.com.

By: Pat Kane

I’ve spent the last several Thanksgivings out in the Black Friday madness, both as a shopper and most recently as a journalist. If this is your first time, here are a few tips for capturing the story.

1) Go to the big box stores NOW

Yes, now. First off, it’s helpful to have touched base with the store management so you can get in the store to get shots of the first shoppers entering the store. Also, you can check if anyone is already camped out for the big day. Why is this person camped out in front of Best Buy/Target/Wal-Mart and missing Thanksgiving? Think of it as a bonus story.

2) Do your research

Know the stores, their opening times and the hot deals this year. The top source is www.bfads.net, and they also have buying guides for the best deals. Big box stores are mostly opening at midnight this year, unlike in previous years where they tended to open in the early morning. Mall anchor department stores like J.C. Penny’s are holding off from opening until Friday morning.

Find out if there is a pressing angle. In 2008, I talked with folks camped out at floundering retailer Circuit City. Already in bankruptcy, the company announced in January that all stores were closing. This year, I think the angle is the midnight openings. Will more people come out, because they don’t have to wake up early?
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By: David Brandt

I like to think I’m a pretty funny guy, and I credit that confidence in my sense of humor to my career in an often cynical business: journalism.

But through my experience in newspapers, I’ve come across more situations in which humor serves more as a liability than an asset. And the impact can be everlasting.

When I was in high school during the late 1990s, the faculty advisor for the student newspaper would review every aspect of each edition following the student copy editors. She once disagreed with the choice of headline entered by a student and noted her disapproval by entering a new headline onto QuarkXPress: “This is the dumbest headline I’ve ever read.”

Funny? Many people thought so. Applicable to a feature about ridiculous news headlines? Probably, but even a year after that story ran I couldn’t recall what the actual feature was about. Why? Because the advisor’s note of disapproval was never changed – it ran as the headline in the printed edition. Humor 1, credibility 0.

I didn’t fully understand the impact of the error until a similar instance occurred within the first couple of years of my full-time professional career.
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By: Tara Puckey

I’m still not sure what I want to be when I grow up. And I’m beginning to think that’s okay.

Like most college students, time in school was spent with an end goal. Regardless of whether it’s your freshman year or the last steps across the stage for that diploma, you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Your primary task, at least at that moment, is to graduate. Sure, you think about jobs and careers and resumes, but those are long-term thoughts.

For me, this whole thing was fantastic. I’m a “list-cross-er-off-er.” I put something on my list and, no matter how long it takes to complete (college, for example), I find relief, satisfaction, excitement even, in the fact that I finished it entirely. So there it was at the top of my list–graduate. Although frustratingly complicated (math) and sometimes completely unrelated to my focus (history of Van Halen), I pressed on until I enjoyed the sound of the pencil scratching through that one simple word.

But then, almost as quickly as the celebration headache had worn off, I realized that I didn’t have an immediate goal anymore. I needed a job, but there’s no guarantee that I’ll find something I love, which doesn’t really warrant being crossed off. Grad school? My own business? A completely new career path?

After changing my mind every single day for a month, I realized I don’t have to always have it all planned out. I don’t have to always know what the next step is. Nothing in a book of rules outlines the plan I have to follow.
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By: Mike Brannen

A while ago a friend asked me for some advice going into an interview with a TV station. Three of the four stations that brought me in for a face-to-face last year offered me a job. So either I’m lucky, or I surprisingly said and did the right things (some might say a face-to-face is a near-lock for the job, and I wouldn’t reject that thought).

Anyways, I emailed my friend some tips, along with anecdotes from my interview experiences. It’s kind of a rambling mess, but the least you can take away from it is something to consider when you get an interview.

1. Arrive early, smile a lot.

2.Don’t come empty-handed
I brought a small binder that had a legal pad in it so I could write things down and store any paper work handed to me. I got lots of little notes. I kept extra cover letters and resumes in there too. Whether or not you actually use it is moot. Having it with you gives the impression (or illusion) that you care. I wouldn’t bring an iPad/tablet if you have one; I think it looks tacky at an interview. Maybe in a couple of years it will be acceptable.
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By Jennifer Nicole Sullivan

It’s challenging to find a job after graduation, not to mention a job in journalism. But it can be done if you become proactive and prepare. So before you begin your job search, get a jump on the competition with these tips (listed in no particular order).

1. Print business cards: Vistaprint offers nice and inexpensive cards. Include your website and Twitter handle (if appropriate).

2. Create a one-page resume: Nobody wants to read more than that! Check out “One-Page Resumes – 12 Edits to Make Everything Fit.”

3. Create an online portfolio: Include your best clips, multimedia samples, resume (sans address) and bio. Have an online presence. Check out “Portfolio Websites for Journalists: Where to Begin.”

4. Get active on LinkedIn: Keep up with contacts, peers and news sources. Make new connections. It’s your online Rolodex. You might even get a job through LinkedIn (I did!).

5. Get several internships: One is not enough. Shoot for the national media outlets. Publish as much as you can in these positions.

6. Publish work in professional publications: Either through an internship or as a freelancer. Look into Patch.com in your area or other local publications.

7. Regularly save your clips: Always save pdfs and hard copies as you go. It’ll keep you from scrambling around when you need them.

8. Join Society of Professional Journalists: (Hopefully you have already!) It’s great for networking, attending superb conferences and getting valuable advice from committees such as Gen J. Plus, you receive SPJ’s Quill magazine!

9. Attend seminars, conferences and networking sessions: You’ll make important contacts and learn about social media trends, writing tips and industry news.

10. Network (yes, really!): It sounds like a scary word, but it doesn’t have to be. Relieve the pressure with this Woody Allen quote, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” Just show up and conversations will happen naturally without the stress.

11. Make friends with other student journalists: Keep in touch after graduation. You never know how you can help each other out.

12. Learn technology: It’s not enough just to write well. Learn to shoot video, edit video, take photos, report on camera, write for online, engage in social media and use design software such as InDesign. And be familiar with HTML and content management systems.

13. Google yourself: What pops up? If it’s undesirable, fix it before future employers see it.

14. Follow the top news outlets (and read more than just the headlines!): Read a variety of magazines and newspapers that contain opposing opinions and points of view. The more you read, the better journalist you’ll be.

(Tips presented at Salve Regina University in Newport, R.I., in early November 2011.)

Jennifer Nicole Sullivan is a copywriter for Real Simple magazine in New York City. She’s also a fashion, arts and entertainment contributing writer for the weekly newsmagazine Newport Mercury in Newport, R.I. The Dallas native is a former features reporter at Corpus Christi Caller-
Times. She has degrees in theater and radio-TV-film from The University of Texas at Austin and an M.A. in English from The University of Rhode Island. Visit JenniferNicoleSullivan.com and follow her on Twitter @trendyjenny.

By: Ryan Broussard

Journalism students are constantly inundated with questions like, “What do you want to do?” or “What do you want to cover?” Not everyone is going to be able to cover the courts or police beat. Beats like those are not for everyone either. So what else is there for you do?

Whatever you want to.

There are numerous other beats or niches that students can cover and cover well. Have you ever read an environmental magazine, like The Ecologist or E/The Environmental Magazine, or a car magazine, like Road & Track and Car and Driver? Writers for those magazines and others like them found a specialized niche and prospered. You can too.

The skills that your professors taught you in the classroom for covering traditional beats like meetings and speeches apply across all beats. Here are some niche areas of journalism that are available to students:

Environmental Journalism

On my first day as a journalism major after switching from biology, my adviser noticed my biology and chemistry classes and proclaimed, “You are going to go in environmental journalism. They make good money.” While I’m not sure about the second sentence, I do know there is, or should be, a place for environmental reporting in just about every newsroom.

Think about the BP spill last summer. Or the controversy surrounding the Keystone Pipeline. Situations like that call for good, solid environmental reporting. Small-town environmental problems can range from the impact of controversial waste management facility on the environment to a contaminated water table. Being versed in science can really help a young journalist.
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By: Mike Brannen

Being a journalist requires good stress management skills. We do not have an easy job. We have deadlines. We have bosses that nitpick word choices and word counts. We have to compete with fellow co-workers to advance our own careers. We work long hours. The list is long.

But darn it, we are good at what we do. We live for it, and we love it. Some days, it’s harder than others.

So we at SPJ Generation J are experimenting with a new venture. We’re exploring Google+ Hangouts, and looking to get you involved. Once a month, we’ll open a Hangout, and invite you to join the conversation.

Our vision is to use the space for a “therapeutic” experience. We all need times to vent over the things that drive us nuts. Here, you’ll get a chance to do that without repercussion. We hope to gather a handful of folks from across the county, from different newsrooms, and share war stories.
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By Jennifer Nicole Sullivan

During the SPJ National Conference in 2010, I realized my folder of photocopied newspaper clips was so antiquated. I needed an online portfolio. Unfortunately, I never learned how to create a website in school. But I didn’t want to pay someone to design one, so I decided to tackle this project on my own.

Today—although I’m still in the process of uploading clips—my portfolio website, www.jennifernicolesullivan.com, is up and fully functional. And I did it all without taking an HTML or web design class. So if you’re in the same position I was in, just follow these simple steps to launch your own website:

1. Buy a domain: As Claudia Amezcua mentioned in her Gen J post “WhyYourDomainNameIsImportant.com” on November 3, 2011, select a domain that reflects your name and/or byline. My byline is Jennifer Nicole Sullivan because there are hundreds of Jennifer Sullivans in this world. I bought my domain at Dreamhost.com for $9.95 a year.

2. Select a web host provider: After polling my friends, I selected Dreamhost to host my website for $119.40 per year. So far, so good.

3. Select a publishing platform: I chose WordPress.org to create my website and to use as a content management system (not WordPress.com which supports and hosts blogs). WordPress is free.

4. Select a template: You don’t need to design a website from scratch. Just select a free template from WordPress or from the thousands of free templates online.  Some templates are available for purchase only (mine was purchased).

5. Find a friend who knows WordPress: Luckily I knew someone who helped me upload my template onto WordPress. My other good friend is the book, “WordPress for Dummies.”

6. Play and explore: I figured out how to tweak the HTML code in my template and upload content to my site simply by putting in the hours. My method was trial and error. If I didn’t know a certain HTML code, I searched Google for information.

It takes a lot of patience and persistence, but you’ll feel great when you have a nice, professional portfolio to share with future employers. These are the basic steps I took, but I’m certain there are better routes to take.

Know of a great journalism portfolio you can recommend? Have any portfolio tips or tricks? We’d love to hear your ideas and see your portfolios!

Jennifer Nicole Sullivan is a copywriter for Real Simple magazine in New York City. She’s also a fashion, arts and entertainment contributing writer for the weekly newsmagazine Newport Mercury in Newport, R.I. The Dallas native is a former features reporter at Corpus Christi Caller-
Times. She has degrees in theater and radio-TV-film from The University of Texas at Austin and an M.A. in English from The University of Rhode Island. Visit JenniferNicoleSullivan.com and follow her on Twitter @trendyjenny.

By: Victoria Reitano

You tweet all day long and you being to wonder what, if any, impact it actually has on your readers and your reputation. Thankfully, there are a few tools that will help you learn more about your reach on the Web, and on social media sites.

Klout

Klout (klout.com) is a great way to measure how influential you are on Twitter and Facebook. The company recently added support for Foursquare, WordPress, Instagram (an iPhone photo application) LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube and Tumblr, among a few others. The site also allows you to award +K to those people in your network that you feel are influential about one topic or another. You can sign in to this service using Facebook or Twitter (and I recommend adding all of your applicable networks to increase your score).

Tweet Grader

Tweet Grader (http://tweet.grader.com/) is another tool that grades your Twitter profile. The score on this is out of 100 and has a different measurement system than Klout. This also shows you the most influential men, women and people in a given area. I like having both of these as a way to measure my influence in different areas.
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