Newspaper Work Exp.

Fraggle

I'm applying for an MA in Journalism and since I don't have literary based BA (although quite media and current affairs savvy), I feel I really need to embellish my application with work experience in a publication or newspaper. I am very confident in my writing skills and have plenty of material but the reports of huge numbers of applications for the MA has really terrified me!

I know the likelihood of getting work experience in this area is pretty slim but is there anyone out there with any tips or contacts?

Please help!!

Judt

I wouldn't bother with work experience, as you'll be left making the coffee. Try pitching freelance, it's a much better way of getting work.

jrey1981

Fraggle wrote:

I'm applying for an MA in Journalism and since I don't have literary based BA (although quite media and current affairs savvy), I feel I really need to embellish my application with work experience in a publication or newspaper. I am very confident in my writing skills and have plenty of material but the reports of huge numbers of applications for the MA has really terrified me!

I know the likelihood of getting work experience in this area is pretty slim but is there anyone out there with any tips or contacts?

Please help!!

A couple of things strike me here...what are you hoping to achieve from the MA that you cannot gain from freelancing or getting work experience?

It is alot of time and expense imho, and though it will put you ahead of the competition to a certain extent, a lot of media insiders would suggest you might be better pursuing the practical side in terms of freelancing or work experience.

I have a few tips that I will happily share, but I would prefer not to post them on a public message board, so feel free to PM me and I will get back to you.

Judt

I agree with jrey. Freelancing is a much better way to get on the ladder - do it for a year or two, and do it in the right way, and you'll get yourself a starting staff job (if you so wish) that'll take you up the career ladder far faster than being another fresh-faced journalism grad who has all the theoretical experience in the world to make you a good tea maker.

As an example, we (at TG Publishing) had to hire a new staff writer a few months back for our New York office. We had a choice between college grads who had just got into the freelance game after getting their degrees, or a chap who had actually pretty flummoxed his high school education but who was an excellent and experienced freelancer who proved himself by fire. Guess who we hired…

Of course you could try working in a degree and freelance at the same time, but good luck to you doing it successfully. In journalism a degree is more of a recent formality, and while they do turn out guys and gals with a wider range of readymade skills I find that someone who just goes in freelance will pick up those skills, such as shorthand, alongside practical experience, and they'll do it in half the time (as their income depends upon it... amazing how that focuses the mind )