by: Jacqueline A. Ingles

I have been working in TV news for nearly five years. And, while I do not believe TV news is a broken toy, I do think it is a toy that has been assembled without instructions— perhaps a few screws are missing or loose.

What do you mean by this you ask? Well, local television stations have a great deal of power to enter your living room or business on a daily basis and provide you with need to know information. In other words, the layout is there for greatness, but somehow, stations are taking the turnoff that leads to mediocre. I believe this is happening for the following reasons:

1) If it bleeds it leads: Almost all stations are quick to jump on crime. Nine times out of ten, if there is a crime that has occurred, this will take precedence over education reports, economic reports, etc. Sure, the crime may only impact a neighborhood, whereas the others stories reach thousands of people–it is the salacious nature of crime that pushes it to the top of the list. Now, do not get me wrong, if a serial killer is on the loose, by all means, let people know to be on the lookout. But, how many times do you hear about crime stories like a murder and there is no follow up? One day, the murder is covered and perhaps, if a news director thinks it is warranted, you will cover the funeral. Maybe. This motto has also given rise to niche journalism. Why should you have to wait through crime stories if your only interest is sports? That is why ESPN is likely to get to ESPN 50—they can cater to sports by state and still keep viewers coming.
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By: David Brandt

I hate resolutions made at the end of the year. I typically find my birthday to be the more reasonable time to consider making some changes, but my personal life (or what’s left of it, what I haven’t given to journalism) follows a different tempo than my professional life.

One task, however, creeps into my brain more often in December than at any other time during the year: retooling my journalism skill set.

If you’re just starting out in your news career, then I’ve got some bad news to break to you – you age quicker than most people you know outside the industry. Seriously. My mom turned 65 this year but I’m the one that gets offered the senior discount at IHOP.

And with age comes memory challenges. Whether it’s recalling a particular rule from the AP Stylebook or determining precise location of your nut graf, you can sometimes ache for knowledge recall. Your brain is like any other organ in your body – it needs exercise and maintenance.

Here’s a few recommendations for what you can do to keep your newsroom brain fresh, organized and sharp for the new year:

Read the entire AP Stylebook. Again. Yeah, it’s on the Web now, but even if you use it for bedtime reading, it’s good to give it a thorough reading in its entirety every so often. You may come across an abbreviation or acronym you were using incorrectly all year. Plus, there’s a lot to learn about weather and weapons … and who doesn’t want to learn more about those entries?

Review your clips. Take a look at the work you’ve done in 2011 and determine which stories you liked the best and which ones could’ve used a rewrite, even if it’s just the lead (or lede, if you’re fancy). With the clips you sour on, examine your mistakes, story flow, or other factors you think could’ve used tweaking. This will not only make you a better writer, but it will also prep you for the editor’s desk.
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By: Ryan Broussard

Last month, I wrote about niches in journalism that students and recent graduates can immerse themselves in. (You can find the first blog post here.)

This month, I will expand on the original post and add new niches for your reading pleasure.

1. Health care reporter: Why didn’t I think about this one the first time?

With all the hoopla surrounding President Barack Obama’s landmark health care bill, dozens, if not hundreds, of story ideas permeate even the smallest town or municipality. And those are not the only stories out there. Congress and state legislatures are constantly tinkering with rules and regulations for hospitals and physicians. Follow Congressional and legislative sessions and you may find nuggets of interest that you can use.

2. Entertainment writer: This niche consists of multiple sub-niches. A person who wishes to cover entertainment can write about music, movies, art, the theater, museums, etc.; the possibilities are seemingly endless.
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By: Mike Brannen

Sometimes I think “manager” is a code word for “everybody’s least favorite person.” They are easily criticized when things go wrong, and underappreciated when things go right. Working as a producer for a morning newscast, I was fortunate to have an excellent executive producer lead our team. He recently left for a big boy job in New York, and he is well-deserving of it. His absence is visible, and our team pushes to maintain the excellent quality of work we created under his direction. Since his departure, I’ve realized the qualities a good manager must possess. When you are out looking for a new job, here’s what to look for in a manager:

Pushes you to be better
An EP’s job is to have the best broadcast. Our station demands a newscast with as many stories as possible. Given a limited frame of time to put a show together, it is a challenge to write a plethora of stories, and write it in a style our station prefers. The easy way out is to give up on it, and reject the demands. The EP is there to hammer into you that “this is the way it needs to be done.” They must mold you until you get it right. In the end, you will realize your skills improved because you were challenged to perform better.

Fixes every problem
A good manager reluctantly takes responsibility for every problem. If a writer overlooks a fact in a story the EP didn’t read, a good manager must own up to it because it is in their broadcast. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but it is required in the position. A manager should always know what went wrong because they should learn how to prevent the problem from happening again.
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By: Victoria Reitano

Ok, we get it — maybe you jumped on Google+ or maybe you’re just too busy tweeting the top headlines in your town to join our monthly hangouts. Either way, we’d love to meet you. So, in the tradition of our journalism forefathers, we’re taking our conversation to the street…or, in our case, the tweet.

Man on the Tweet, using the hashtag #GenJ, will be a place where you (and your friends and your friends’ friends) can join us twice a month to discuss different topics about being a young journalist today.

We’re going to give you about ten questions to start each topic, and then we can continue the discussion in whatever direction your questions take us. Each chat will last at least one hour, with follow-up questions answered/discussed by the GenJ Committee the following day. We’ll even Storify all your responses for easy, on-the-go, reading.

Our first chat is Monday, Dec. 19 at 9 p.m. ET. Join us, grab your friends and make a night of it. First round’s on us!

Who: @SPJGenerationJ Committee members and young journalists

What: Man on the Tweet, a way to communicate on Twitter with your colleagues

When: First one on Monday, Dec. 19 at 9pm ET

Where: Twitter, Tweetdeck/Hootsuite is the recommended method so you can follow the feed, your @ mentions and your own tweets

Why: Because we’re awesome

Victoria Reitano is the Assistant Editor at SDTimes, an enterprise technology trade magazine for enterprise developers and their managers. She is also the publisher of The Giornalista Files, her personal blog and portfolio site where she shares her ideas about being an early career lady journo with anyone who will listen. Reitano feels Bikram Yoga is the perfect compliment to her obsessive need to consume information on a constant basis. Connect with her on Twitter @giornalista515.

By: Lynn Walsh

Like most print reporters, covering all things health and education in Moses Lake, Washington means more than just interviewing sources and meeting deadlines. For Steven Wyble it also means taking pictures and being responsible for knowing the latest news related to the county health district, area hospitals and schools for the Columbia Basin Herald, a newspaper published Monday through Friday.

Wyble is the Society of Professional Journalists Generation J “Feature on the Fifth” profile journalist for December and took some time to answer a few questions about his job, the news industry and social media.

Q: How did you get into the position?

I found the job listed online and applied. I had applied to dozens of other papers and had a few interviews, but no job offers. The editor of the Herald e-mailed me a few days after I submitted my resume and set up a phone interview. After the first interview the publisher set up a second interview and included the publisher. A few days later the publisher called back to offer me the job and I accepted.

Q: You recently joining SPJ. How are you hoping SPJ will help you professionally?

What I’m looking forward to exploring when I have time are the training resources at www.spj.org. While I learned a lot at my university, and am learning even more with my current job, I don’t think there’s anything more conducive to advancing one’s career than constantly pursuing new education and training opportunities.

Q: What is your biggest challenge as a young person in this industry? How do you work to overcome it?

My biggest challenge was a lack of professional experience. I think most people learn best by repeatedly practicing a skill, and while I contributed to several student newspapers, I didn’t get as much journalism experience as I would have liked before I graduated.

That lack of experience hindered my job search. After I interviewed at one paper, the editor called to tell me I didn’t the job. I was his second choice, he said, and he’d chosen the other guy because he had more experience.

He suggested I contribute to small community newspapers to build my portfolio, so that’s what I did. I emailed a bunch of editors and told them I was a recent journalism school graduate and that I would like to contribute to their paper. Only one editor replied, and I only ended up contributing three stories. But it was enough to diversify my portfolio a bit and expand my list of professional references. I think that additional experience helped me land the job I have now.
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By: Mike Brannen

It’s time again. The Society of Professional Journalists Generation J Hangout is just days away.

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 come “hang” with us as we continue to explore Google+ Hangouts.
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By: Claudia Amezcua

With more than 500,000 apps available for iPhone/Droid what are the best apps out there to help a journalists cover stories out in the field, everyone has their favorites.

Personally, while on the field I have found the following apps useful when I need to get something out to the world promptly.

1. Twitter
Okay, I know we all have this app at our disposal, but I honestly think its so much better than the other incarnations out there that offer the same ability to tweet on the go.

2. Facebook
When I need to update my friends and fans with news and also find story tips.

3. Hootsuite
Best app when I want to update all my social media platforms with one single entry. The best part of this app is that I can also schedule tweets for later postings.
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