I’ve often related landing a broadcast job to winning the lottery. You have to have the perfect combination of attributes to land the job you are applying for. Recently, I was promoted to crime and courts reporter at my station. Thus, my old bureau position (where you work weekends at the main station serving as lead live reporter) became open. I sat down with an individual in management–who shall remain nameless–and peppered them with questions as to what it took to get their attention and what sent dozens of resume in the garbage even before they were looked at. Yes, the position is filled–if you are thinking of applying. Here are some questions I asked and the answers I received.

Q) How many reporters applied?

A. There were roughly 300 applicants. (Jackie’s jaw drops) Yes, you are up against hundreds for these jobs.

Q) Do cover letters really matter?

A. A cover letter can hurt you more than it helps you. You have more opportunity to make mistakes with spelling and grammar. If you have to write one, make it short and sweet. Think less than 500 words.

Don’t use the same cover letter for each job. I had a man apply that gave me a cover letter for a communications consultant spot. Really?

Q) Are there demos you don’t even look at? If so, why?

A. Yes. If I get a letter or email that says, ‘Dear Sir or Madame,’ I toss it immediately into the garbage. Put it this way, you want to be a reporter and you cannot even find out who the hiring manager is or my name? I am immediately not interested and well, you are not worth my time. I threw out dozens of demos because of this. Didn’t even look.

Q) Can I call you?

A. If in the job listing it says DO NOT CALL or DO NOT EMAIL–do not do either. Doing this will just irritate me and show me you cannot follow instructions.
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Some people dread it. Some people look forward to it.

It is that fateful day when your regional director comes up to you and asks “Would you like to host next year’s regional conference?” Before getting worried or feeling overwhelmed by the thought of it, keep these tips in mind:

Begin planning early
At the national conference in the fall, most regions finalize their plans for the regional in the spring. If your chapter chooses, or is chosen, to host the regional, begin planning ASAP. You have no idea how much work goes into one until you are put in charge of planning. Start pricing hotels and brain-storming for session ideas. Don’t be afraid to go after the large fancy hotels because sometimes the ones that you think are out of your price range are the ones that will be able to work with you the easiest.

Try to show off local flair
In Lafayette, we are working on getting a Cajun/zydeco band to play at our opening night reception to go along with dance instructors to teach attendees the local dance moves. If your city or state is known for specialties, do not be afraid to show them off. Journalists as a whole are curious folk and they will want to try new and different things.

Don’t be afraid to think big
When trying to decide on speakers, don’t be afraid to think big. Go after the big fish, like a national news anchor from your area or a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter. The worst thing that can happen is they say no. But, as in all facets of life, you’ll never know until you ask.

Keep working
Eventually, you will hit a wall and you think that everything will just fall into place. Keep dreaming. You have to continue to work and try to get one thing accomplished every day, whether it be sending some emails to potential speakers or agreeing on room prices with a hotel.

Ryan Broussard is currently on his M.S. in Mass Communication with a concentration in Journalism at UL Lafayette. He graduated from UL Lafayetter in Spring of 2009 with his B.A. in Mass Communication. He currently works as a freelancer covering high school sports for The Opelousas Daily World.

by: Lynn Walsh & Mike Brannen

It’s time again. The Society of Professional Journalists Generation J Hangout is just days away and we want you to join us.

February is almost over, which means for those of us in the television news business, sweeps is coming to an end. So, why not take a break and chat with us about sweeps, the stories you have seen covered by local or national news organization or just journalism in general.

We all know the business is tough, but it is also exciting and that is why we are still writing, posting and interviewing. come chat with other journalists who are passionate about the news industry and want to see the industry continue to adapt to changing technology.

The next one is Monday, February 27, 8:00 p.m. EST.

To join just SPJ Generation J or Lynn on Google+. You can also shoot Lynn an e-mail: Lynn.K.Walsh@gmail.com and she can send you a personal invitation.

Our vision is to use the space for a “therapeutic” experience. We all need time 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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I’ve been employed for just more than a year at my first salaried “real world” job after college. I finally feel I’m settled in, and I tell friends I’ve finally gotten into rhythm with Seattle and its people. I’m not sure if it was the magic 12-month mark, or if it was turning the calendar to 2012, that brought about a sense of comfort. Being in a new city, unfamiliar with its dynamics, or its personality, had its challenges. For those of you about to embark on a life-changing move into a new workplace (journalism or otherwise), I’ve found certain tricks can help you maintain sanity, eliminate isolation, and enjoy life outside of work.

Get Connected With Your Local Alumni Chapter
Thank goodness for sports. Whether or not you like football or basketball, alumni groups meet often to watch their school play. This is likely your easiest and safest opportunity to meet new people in a new city. Wear your school colors, and you’ll find friendly faces. They’ll want to meet you, just as much as you want to meet them.

Get Involved with a Weekly Activity
The key word is “weekly.” Friendships start with familiarity. I’ve played volleyball for many years. I found an open gym one night in Seattle, met some people, and eventually joined a league. I’ve met dozens upon dozens of people from it. Whatever it is you like to do, put yourself in a position to get people’s names, and try to see them at that activity. Eventually it will branch out into opportunities to meet others, or take part in other fun stuff.

Move to the Right Place
Where you move can influence your social life and your attitude. I’ve lived in Seattle for 14 months without a car. I live within a 20 minute bus ride of work, which is also conveniently within a mile of downtown. The proximity of people makes it easier to meet with them. I have coworkers who have cars, and live farther away. While their rent is cheaper, I know I prefer my location because there are more, closer, social opportunities.

Give it Time
In reflecting upon my one year in Seattle, I recall some of the earliest people I spent time with, but haven’t seen in months. The first people you meet aren’t going to be the ones that will end up as your best friends. You might hang out a few times, but might not develop. It is on you to find the type of people you want to become close with. It won’t happen overnight. But my advice is that friendships are like (dating) relationships. You shouldn’t force it, and it shouldn’t take effort. It will happen naturally, and things should just “click.”

Plan Out Your Vacations
I believe that no matter what you do for work, a career is something you do to keep you busy, make ends meet, and pay for vacations. Periodic vacations, whether they are just for a weekend, or for a full week, can make your time at work pass faster. I’ve got a couple trips planned for March. That means I have to be good, and get through February (thanks, sweeps). A vacation isn’t just a trip, it’s a reward. Make sure you are rewarding yourself for your hard work.

Don’t be afraid to move to a new city where you have no connections. It can be exciting, and it helps you learn more about yourself. If you don’t like it, make sure you stay at least a year, and then get out. No one ever said you had to move to one place for the rest of your life.

Mike Brannen is a morning newscast producer for KIRO7, the CBS affiliate in Seattle. He finished his thesis Motivational Use of Twitter in 2010, and received an MA from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He received his Bachelor of Journalism degree the year before. Previous to Seattle, he worked multiple positions at KOMU-TV in Columbia, Missouri for four years. He shares more about his life at mikebrannen.com and on Twitter: @MikeBrannen.

I have three years of experience in the professional world of reporting, but really, I’ve been telling stories for the past 20 years.

However, I understand that I am still young and have tons to learn, but I think there are some things that should be said about the most recent media news rocking the hyperlocal boat.

For a while, when I first started my post-graduate career as a Local Editor for Patch.com, I called myself a “baby reporter,” and then I realized that I’d never get any respect that way so I started doing what I do best — asking questions, getting answers and giving my paraphrased interpretation of the “way Journalism worked.”

I value Romenesko. I value Poynter. I value the SPJ and the RTDNA and all the other journalism organizations — and media reporters — out there doing their thing.

What I don’t value (and what I don’t think helps any reporters, young or old) is the petty arguments, catty Facebook posts and name calling that’s been going on on the past few Romenesko posts.
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Getting your undergrad degree just wasn’t enough, was it? There’s a little bug gnawing at you that you can’t ignore. You want to beef up your resume, move your way into teaching, kill some time between journalism jobs, or learn something new. Sounds like you want to get a master’s degree. I completed a thesis, survived graduate school, and got my MA. It wasn’t the easiest thing I have ever done. But if you are considering this endeavor, here are five things you need to have to make your journey easier.

Time Management
Journalists are notorious for waiting until the last minute to get things done. In graduate school, that needs to stop. Focus on long term goals and break them down into smaller steps. What’s my specific thesis/project topic? How long will it take to research previous studies? How long can I spend gathering new data? How long must I spend analyzing my data? Set dates for when you want these accomplished and meet them.

You can’t finish an entire thesis or a project in one night. I tell people that a thesis is like a brick wall. Every day I worked on it, was one brick. When you have your finished product, it is quite the sight, and you wonder “how did I do that?” It is one step at a time.

Time management means budgeting out your day/week. Portion out your day to know how much you can dedicate to reading what’s required for your classes (wait, there’s classes I have to take?!) Know when and how long you can work on that, and when you’ll work on your thesis/project. This requires a little self-reflection, which ties into the next tip.

Self-Discipline
If there’s no self-imposed deadline, a thesis/project can drag on endlessly. Force yourself to reach your deadlines. This means buckling down on days you don’t want to work.

No one said you had to work on weekends, but even a sliver of work is good. Saturdays in the fall, I worked one hour in the morning on something I could easy finish. I felt a sense of accomplishment for the day, and I could relax. The rest of the day it was me and college football with friends. If you insist on taking off both Saturday and Sunday, maintain an adequate amount of time during the week to work.

Find a way to motivate yourself. This is hard. If you put off work, insist on a time where you promise to make it up, and stick with it. Every person is different, so I can’t tell you what’s the best way to get you motivated. What gets me going is by the end of the day, I felt I was productive. Sometimes it was working hard during the week to give myself more free time on the weekend.

People tend to think they work best at night. That may be true. I assume those people are just procrastinators and they would always late to the last minute to get work done.

In grad school, I had an internal clock that basically wouldn’t let me work after 7:00 p.m. My brain shut off by that point and I couldn’t get anything done that late. I was sharpest in the morning. Determine your personal clock, and find out when you are your most productive.

Quiet Space
Put yourself in a place where the most interesting thing going on in your environment is the research in front of you (in your books, on your computer). Create a physical space that is your work zone and nothing else. I rented out a “cage” at my school’s library. It was bland, drab, quiet, and there was nothing stimulating about it. That meant it was distraction free. I’ve never read more in one place on Earth. This is where you should accomplish your most work. I took the occasional nap in there to rest my brain, so you can make that work. Just make sure that space doesn’t turn into a crib.

Backups/Storage
It’s never been easier to save your work. I’m sure you’ve heard the horror stories of someone busting their laptop the day before their presentation, and they didn’t backup their work elsewhere. There’s no excuse for that anymore.

I saved nearly hourly on my cheap flash drive. Even an hour of work is a lot to do-over. At the end of the day, I e-mailed the new research, or whatever I worked on, to myself. That creates TWO copies. It is in your inbox, and in your “Sent mail” folder. Also, if you have an external hard drive, update it at least monthly, even more frequently is better.

Friends
Finally, maintain a social life. I had good friends that kept me sane during graduate school. Saturdays and Sunday was always playtime, but even during the week we hung out. Remember my 7:00 p.m. deadline? After that, I would unwind with friends. Trivia night on Tuesdays, Must See TV on NBC Thursdays, and Friday night…well, it was Friday night! Just because you are a graduate student doesn’t mean you can’t have fun!

If you are able to identify all five of these topics, and make them work for you, then you will have a successful graduate school experience.

Mike Brannen is a morning newscast producer for KIRO7, the CBS affiliate in Seattle. He finished his thesis Motivational Use of Twitter in 2010, and received an MA from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He received his Bachelor of Journalism degree the year before. Previous to Seattle, he worked multiple positions at KOMU-TV in Columbia, Missouri for four years. He shares more about his life at mikebrannen.com and on Twitter: @MikeBrannen.

by: Victoria Reitano

Can you be both a social media coordinator and an editor, or journalist/reporter? Are they completely contradictory terms? If they are, the media industry is doomed.

After reading Mandy Jenkin’s (former HuffPo self-proclaimed “Twitter Monkey”) thoughts on being a social media editor and what that does to her slightly less social Journalism aspirations, I had a few ideas of my own that I thought it would be good to share with the public.

I’ve been a social media coordinator since 2008. I started with a Facebook group, linked to my personal account, for my internship with This Old House magazine. The group was used to promote the TOH Pumpkin Carving Contest. And then I used Facebook and Twitter to start another contest — The Gingerbread House Carving contest, which they continue to do today.

Back in ’08, I didn’t tweet as much as I do today (although I’ve been on Twitter since Dec. ’08) and most people I spoke with thought it was a dumb service that would die out.

How wrong they were!

Journalism, in my opinion, has always been social. My professors at Quinnipiac University often reminded us that from the dawn of time, people have been asking “What’s going on?” “What’s the news?” “Sup bro?” All of these questions mean the same thing — people are sharing (interacting) with one another about the events happening around them.

Thanks to the Web, journalists (and companies, software developers and countless others) now have a way to access their “fans” in real time. We can ASK for feedback in a million different ways. We can see what the people — our ultimate “employers” — want to know.

That’s what makes me so passionate about Journalism. That’s what makes me write and fight every single day for this so-called “dying” industry.

Jenkins offered a few thoughts that concerned me, however. In her excellent blog post, she went into great detail about her fears of being stuck in the social chains and how she hopes that she (and other social media editors) will one day be able to break the chains…and join the Editorial Meetings.

In my opinion, they should never have left the Editorial Meetings.

By day, I’m an Assistant Reporter AND Social Media Coordinator. To me, they go hand in hand. Now wait one minute, I’m not saying EVERY reporter should be a social media coordinator (I do think there should be one person leading the effort and training others in the newsroom) but I do believe every, single reporter in every, single newsroom should be social.

And I’m not just talking about at the water cooler.

How will you incorporate Twitter into your daily life? Maybe you’ll use Buffer (an app that allows you to schedule tweets/Facebook updates from links you like), or Ping.fm, or maybe you’ll use Hootsuite, TweetDeck or another service that lets you tweet on the fly.

However you do it, it’s essential that you first speak with the Social Media Editor/Coordinator at your publication AND then start promoting your own brand, peppering it with commentary, real life activities and, oh yea, work links.

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.

In between work and whatever personal life you’ve got (though for most journalists, this tends to bleed quite heavily into work) there really isn’t much time to catch up on the news you’re not writing.

Of course, you follow things on Twitter, you like things on Facebook and read the NYTimes (or paper of your choice) daily. Right? Don’t we all do these things?

If you’ve yet to perfect your rhythm of the morning (or the rhythm of your life; hey, don’t feel bad, took me three years), here’s a short cut — Newsletters. Newsletters, sent directly to your inbox, wait patiently for you to “have a moment” to catch up on the news. Here are five that will have you organized, on-top of the news and, most importantly, happy in no time.

MUCKRACK
I don’t know about you, but I secretly have a fedora stashed away for when Journalism’s renaissance occurs…which may be never, but have no fear — Muck Rack is here! Muck Rack is an amazing resource for journalists interested in social media and what’s happening in the media world. If you apply, the may list your Twitter account and give you access to their “pro” section, but in the meantime you should definitely sign up for newsletters. You can also use the site to see what journalists are worth following.

Harvard Business Review
This is great for anyone working as a manager or hoping to be an Editor at some point in the future. It offers tips to entrepreneurs and business owners, but I’ve read quite a few things — particularly pertaining to work/life balance — that have helped me.

Brazen Careerist
While we all love our current jobs, it’s a great thing to have a skill set that will help you find a job in the future, when you’re ready. This website and newsletter will give you advice, help you learn some new skills and learn from others who are more advanced. Even if you stay at your current job for the rest of your life, it can’t hurt to read this blog every day.

MediaBistro’s Morning Media Newsfeed
MediaBistro actually has several great Twitter and RSS feeds. Their newsletters tell you every single thing you need to know about Media in your area, or in the case of this newsletter, all over the nation.

The Daily Love
We see death, destruction and deal with bouts of stupidity all day long — wouldn’t it be nice to have a little peace of mind at some point during the day? The Daily Love is a blog/newsletter I discovered about a year ago and I think it really helps change the way you think, and ultimately, live.

What do you read in the morning (or night) to help you “stay in the know?” Share with us below!

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.

Everyone now knows the story of the student media outlet that jumped the gun by a few hours in reporting the death of longtime Penn State Coach Joe Paterno. We can all understand the pressure to get the scoop first, and the agony of realizing you had it wrong. We had a similar situation occur in our local media and blogosphere lately.

“New breastaurant coming to the fan?” shouted a headline on fanofthefan.com, a local blog focused on the Fan neighborhood in Richmond, Va. A brief outlined that Twin Peaks, a Hooters-like restaurant with as much focus on the waitresses as on the food, was hiring.

“Our waitresses are an elite group of women who wear cute and sexy costumes while serving up fun and making connections with our loyal guest,” they quoted from an employment ad, which asked prospective servers to e-mail photos of themselves.

Richmond.com, a branch of Media General, quickly picked up on the buzz and posted a story. Many commenters were outraged at the ad, or dismayed to hear such a business was coming to a locally-focused neighborhood.

The problem? The reports were based exclusively on a Craigslist post listed in food/beverage/hospitality jobs. (it has since been deleted). A few hours later, a reporter at Richmond.com ruined all the fun by getting in touch with the restaurant headquarters to find out that it was a scam posting. The real story? Some creeper probably posted the ad to lure young women to send photos to that anonymous Craigslist e-mail, a spokeswoman said.

“We would never ask anyone to send a picture of themselves to apply for a job,” Meggie Miller, Twin Peaks national director of marketing, told Richmond.com. The restaurant chain tried in vain to reach the person who posted the ad. Ironically, the chain plans to expand into area at some point but says that all hiring is done in-person.

The SPJ Code of Ethics advises journalists to “test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error.” We’ve all felt the rush of posting an interesting story. Just don’t believe everything you read on Craigslist.

Nikons in hand, Pat Kane covers the stories of the Tri-Cities of Virginia as multimedia editor of The (Petersburg) Progress-Index. Pat joined the Virginia Pro Chapter Board in 2008, stepping up to serve as chapter secretary the following year. After growing up all over the globe as a Navy brat, Pat graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2007 after working four years at The Commonwealth Times. 140-character insights are available @kane804.