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  • Jaded

    This isn’t a post I particularly want to write, but it’s one I need to write.

    I’m not really even sure how to phrase it, but here goes.

    I’m having doubts. I’m just feeling really disillusioned.

    I love writing. I like writing so much, I don’t even need to see my name in print – I don’t care if I get a byline.

    But it’s so not a good way to make a living. Like Penelope Trunk’s said, if you can find another way to get by than by writing, you should take it.

    So many of us went into journalism full of hopes and idealism. But once you learn more about the machine, it’s pretty near impossible to retain that.

    News is so mundane. Things get blown out of proportion. There are PR/comm types who stonewall you and irate, often irrational readers who abuse you. There are actually people who talk media-speak – who speak in soundbites and try to make every sentence quotable.

    I know there’s bureaucracy in any job. I know there are commercial concerns and I know there will always be people who you can never fully satisfy. People whose perceptions are so out there, people who are determined to infer things that aren’t there. I don’t just mean nitpicking, I mean straight up crazies. I know accountability is part of having any job, and as much as I fear screwing up and getting the facts wrong or misquoting, I would rather do that than be crunching numbers and potentially making errors which could spell catastrophe for a company’s bottom line. (Did I mention I went through a bunch of my old crap and found my old Stats workbook and exercises? I looked through them and actually recoiled. Then I threw it out. Not that stats has anything to do with, say, accounting, but maths is maths to me…)

    People may look down on those who work in community news. But you know what, I enjoyed doing human interest stories. I enjoyed working with real people, with genuine, honest, humble and down to earth Kiwis.

    I don’t really know where this is going… I just needed to get some stuff off my chest. And just lastly, if anyone out there is struggling with shorthand….freaking A, you’re not alone! It’s bloody impossible to keep up. I’m so not at the stage where I can do it without thinking – it requires concentration, which slows me down and makes it faster to use abbreviated longhand. Bring on second semester!

  • Getting social-media savvy

    I came across this ad for a social media intern on Twitter a few days ago. Ignoring the fact that it’s unpaid and in Cambodia, methinks the criteria are pretty damn tight! I wonder if they’ll find someone who fits their strict requirements, and is willing and able to get out there and support themselves for however long the internship is.

    – At least 150 followers on Twitter
    – At least 200 Facebook friends
    – Administrator or creator of at least one Facebook group
    – A blog with a Google Page Rank of 2 or higher

    Yikes. 150 followers on Twitter? Nowhere near, not even close. And the majority of mine are spammers. I might go private in the near future. Seriously, I briefly logged into Twitter at work (not a total no-no, we do use social networking) and checked out my latest new followers. All of them were…erm…NSFW. I’m talking porno, with profile pics of naked body parts, etc.

    200 FB friends? Nope. I’m refraining from friending anyone and everyone I know. I’m not wanting to play the popularity game. I even periodically go through and cull a few people once in awhile, usually people from high school who I have nothing to do with. I have about 10 friend requests which have been sitting for months and which I should hurry and up hit ‘ignore’ on. My Facebook profile is for people I actually care about and interact with – quality, not quantity. I can understand how more gregarious and well travelled/connected people can easily have 500+ friends, though.

    I think I may possibly be an admin on ONE Facebook group (which was created for a uni project) – does that count? And a blog with Google page rank of 2 of higher? What on earth does that even mean? I am not totally SEOoblivious but I’m a bit stuck on that one. I assume it’s along the lines of showing up in the top two pages when people search for terms related to your blog?

  • I feel pretty lucky..

    I’m thankful that I have a job I like, with nice coworkers and an awesome boss. I guess I also get a fair bit of leeway, being a rare part-timer amongst full-timers, and being a student. If I need to change up my hours or take study leave, it’s never a problem. I get to pace my workload, and in return I’m always happy to pick up more hours as needed or stay a little later.

    One of my friends just got a job at Savemart, which is pretty neat. It’ll give her some solid work experience, it’s close to her house and the hours are regular – a damn sight better than at her old telemarketing job. Back in school, I wanted to break into retail SO MUCH. I was sick of working with food and just wanted to work in a shop. But I never got anywhere near, and then I landed an ever better job – in an office – and haven’t looked back. Now I think about it, hospo tends to pay better than retail, and I would have been a useless salesperson anyway.

    Being an entry-level sort of job though, has its downsides. She can’t smoke inside, obviously, but was told to not even bring her packet of cigarettes indoors! There’s the usual no texting, no slacking off talking, and a bit of a grilling about future plans. Like, what do you want to get out of this? How long do you think you’ll stay here? Why? You think you’ll be here for the next two years?

    I guess in times like these employers can push the limits and be as picky as they want, and people will put up with it to ensure they have a job – at least until something better comes along.

  • The conundrum of choice

    Not surprisingly, BF’s having a lot of second thoughts about what he wants to do, you know, with the rest of his life.

    He is still keen on teaching. But what? teaching

    He says he would be happy to do early childhood – pretty much a guaranteed job, and free tuition. But it’s not what he really wants to do in the long run. And though he has lots of experience dealing with young ‘uns, I think he’s the kind of person who needs more stimulating, adult interaction. (And realistically, let’s face it, no matter how much they speak of shortages, and say more men are needed in primary and early childhood education, people are WARY of men who want to work among young children.) His original plan was to teach primary and intermediate aged kids, but now he’s quite keen to teach high school.

    That’s going to require a fair bit of study…and money!

    We’re talking a BA – in whatever, media studies, classics, history, or a mix – and then a postgrad diploma in teaching. Three years for the bachelor’s and one year for the post grad. Maybe $15k for undergrad and a similar amount for post?

    I’m not expecting him to have made up his mind at this point – that would be ridiculous. Just sounding off possibilities, because planning is important when it comes to education.

    Either way, I’m sure while doing his course next semester he’ll be introduced to so many new and interesting things, he could yet change his mind still.

  • Postgrad

    Unlike many of my friends, I will not be pursuing postgrad study.

    I have zero interest in academia. It holds no lure for me.

    The thought of spending even a year or two doing research and writing a lengthy original thesis, at this point, terrifies me. Not to mention the prohibitive cost; it amazes me that the journalism post grads, who study alongside us, are paying the equivalent of our entire 3 year degree for one year…or pretty darn close. No way! Not after I’ve worked hard in order to graduate debt free (touch wood).

    Maybe one day that will change. And in the future I wouldn’t mind doing a few papers in something like political studies, psych or sociology. The one downside of doing a BCS is the narrow focus, especially in the earlier years. I loved my polsci paper and wished I could have done more like that (instead of crap like Interpersonal Comm…a paper in which you actually bust out your own everyday-life examples of, say, stereotyping others, which was just PAINFUL).

    So when people ask why I’m not doing something back at uni next year, and how I should be, whether it’s because of the economy or because I’m smart enough to, I say I want to be out there. I want to be working. Journalism, I think, is in the same vein as something like teaching or engineering. At some point you’ve just got to do it.

  • Job titles

    I must say I’m definitely learning a lot about the jobs that make the world go round! It’s amazing how little I actually know about fields like law, engineering and business.

    I seriously spent the majority of this weekend glued to my laptop. What was I doing, you might ask? Well, catching up on email, news, Google Reader, researching a couple of story possibilities, and of course looking through job sites for BF.

    I still see so many job titles which I still don’t really understand.

    For example:

    Learning and development consultant
    Systems analyst / business analyst
    Account director
    Research associate
    Procurement specialist
    Compliance manager

    And yet, sometimes job titles don’t really tell you anything about a position. Some are straight forward – sales assistant, receptionist, publicist, accountant. Then you get roles like communications manager, relationship manager, account manager….in fact, there seem to be so many “Manager” type jobs these days, some of which aren’t managerial in the sense that you manage staff below you, but often external relationships.

    That’s a service and knowledge economy for you, I guess.

  • Future plans

    BF might be studying next year.

    Yep, just as I graduate, he might be entering uni.

    He’s thinking of doing teaching – primary, intermediate age. Maybe secondary later on – apparently with a B.E you can also apply for certain secondary positions, and I’m trying to get in touch with the faculty to find out more.

    If he did early childhood instead, he’d get a free ride plus spending money. ECE is an area of major shortage at the mo; or he could do a technology degree, then a one year grad. dip., and get that paid for as technology teachers are also in demand.

    But he doesn’t want to do either of those, so we’d have to look at other scholarships. And of course, student loans.

    I know in the States there are lots of grants for First in Family….people who are the first in their family to attend uni.

    Can’t find any in NZ, although I’ve only had a cursory look.

    Anyone know  of anything like that?

    (I think because anyone can finance their degree with a loan here, scholarships are way less common….)

    He’d probably do the New Start course part time next semester, to ease him into the routine and get him entry into next year’s intake.

    It’s just over $300 and is only one day a week. It also covers a range of topics, so it should be fun and somewhat  interesting. I’m sure he can achieve a B+ with some work. It’s held at the city campus, although they also hold classes out west in Te Atatu at Rutherford College, which will probably suit better…free parking…closer to home, possibly. Although, who knows about traffic….he’d be in rush hour, going the wrong way…

    Apparently they’re having record numbers sign up though – with the economy the way it is, everyone’s wanting to retrain.

    The administrator said there are so many showing interest, they may have to cap their numbers! So he should enrol early.

    So, exciting prospects….

  • Caught between the two

    spreads

    People complain that the media sensationalise and beat up everything. Stories are too negative. They trash everyone.

    I was asked today by someone how I got the idea for one of my stories (which was, perhaps, a bit of a beatup). I explained I just wanted to write something about this particular thing, and that angle came out of the
    interview.

    And yeah, it was printed, although I was told would be better if I’d found someone who said they were rubbish and slammed them. (Which I more or less had, until the source wanted to change their quotes).

    Which yes, I feel is unnecesarily harsh and making something out of nothing. I guess we are always trying to seek out extreme opinions, it makes for better reading. Conflict, after all, is one of the big news values.

    No doubt i’ll soon be wholly entwined in the working reporter’s mindset, but for now I teeter between both and can see the two sides.

    Just as an aside, something I found really interesting…. sometimes you just don’t get the quotes you want, or sometimes you get gems that make a whole new story. In our textbook chapter on interviews, it says interviewing for stories is a bit like cross examination by a lawyer. Good journos know exactly what to ask and they know what the answers will be before they even ask them, so they know what to expect.

  • My eyes

    are bugging out from staring at my computer screen all day.

    But I’m really glad to be working on this story – it’s a really nice, local piece and I hope it gets printed. It’s nice to be able to help someone out. Someone humble and deserving.

    I wish I was that good of a person.

    Although sure, community news is sometimes dull and unimaginative, there’s also so much opportunity to dig down and get colourful local pieces who would otherwise never get heard.

    Definitely worth it.

  • Wish I had a crystal ball

    You know, I may only be twenty but by gosh I feel SO much older right now.

    Must be grand to be living the quintessential uni experience.

    What does BF’s future hold? He’s young, he still doesn’t know what he wants to do. Make money, yeah. Do something he’s good at and doesn’t hate.

    He could go back and study something like accounting or IT. He could call Skills4Work back up and take up an apprenticeship and get qualified (hopefully would be accelerated given his experience thus far…but who knows if anyone is hiring now. He was, however, top of the list for that very reason before he pulled back a couple of months ago and don’t see why he wouldn’t still be). That’s a three year commitment. About half of what he’s used to making, but trade qualified by the end. He’ll still only be 23 by then.

    We also noticed the Army advertising quite a few civilian officer roles. He called up the army line and spoke with them briefly. He would have to reenlist. We don’t know really what that involves; he’s done his training, will working in a civilian role mean they can move him around, uproot him? I’ll broach the subject with him tomorrow. It’s a big decision and not one to make lightly – you don’t just hop in and out of the defence force, you commit to it. He’s already left once, for a reason. It’s a whole lifestyle, though like I said we don’t know what it’s like outside of the soldier’s perspective. He was quite thoughtful after that phone call. I’d be scared, for sure. It’s now been exactly three years since he left for army basic, and two and a half since he returned and came back to normal life. But I guess that’s the hardest part, the training, and now it’s over and done with. And a career with the army is stable, bar the moving around.

    What to do?