learning journalism

Bob Z

Is it possible to have a career or job in journalism by workng for free your local paper?

jdivision

You can learn your trade on the job but try not to work for free - people come to expect it

monument

Some work experience for free is fine, great even. But doing much more for free is not advised for any length of time. There's loads of stories of people getting strung along with all sorts of promises of pay or a job.

Admittedly, some people get work at the end, or it allows them to build up experience or their portfolio. But as jdivision says by working for free people will expect you to continue to work for free. The people who work for free for months on end only harm them self and everybody else.

The links back to this board at the end of this post here will show you how hard it is to get into journalism.

It's very hard to get a job in journalism. The pay is low and the hours can be unsociable. It's standard to be freelancing for years. And it was hard to get a job in journalism long before the downturn.