10 Journalism Internships, Jobs & Awards

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Journalism Internships, Scholarships, Conferences & Awards

To have your program, position, award or get-together featured, email me ASAP.

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Internships

Entertainment Intern, BuzzFeed, Los Angeles

“BuzzFeed’s Entertainment section is looking for an entertainment and pop-culture obsessive for a full-time paid internship in the Los Angeles office. The person will work closely with BuzzFeed entertainment staff on research, content creation, and idea generation. The ideal candidate will have some experience writing, reporting, and researching at a previous media internship or school newspaper. This is an excellent opportunity to work on a fast-paced site and add clips to a portfolio.”

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Assistant to New York Menswear Editor, NYC

“WGSN was launched in 1998 as a trend forecasting service for the fashion and design industries, providing trend forecasting and analysis to the largest and most influential businesses in the world. Today, WGSN is the world’s leading fashion forecaster, with over 300 editorial and design staff in offices throughout Europe, Asia, North and South America and the Middle East.  The New York WGSN office is looking for a summer intern to assist the NY Menswear Editor.”

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Food Writing Intern, First We Feast, NYC

“Complex’s food and lifestyle site, First We Feast (www.firstwefeast.com), is hiring interns to start immediately. This is an opportunity to be part of a young, rapidly-growing new website while also gaining access to the established online and print expertise of Complex Media.  Candidates should be confident writers who are comfortable working quickly and efficiently on tight deadlines. Your responsibilities will include writing blog posts, sourcing images, fact-checking, and helping with social media strategy.”

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Editorial Intern, Infectious Magazine, Virtual

“Infectious Magazine is an online publication which highlights exceptional local and national bands through the coverage of daily news, interviews, live reviews, album reviews, and photos. It is our mission to not only aid readers in further falling in love with their favorite band, but introduce them to new, exciting acts, and keep the music scene alive.  We are currently seeking an editorial intern to assist in editing and publishing news posts for our website, http://www.InfectiousMagazine.com.”

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Editorial Intern, Mother Earth Magazine, Topeka

“An internship with MOTHER EARTH NEWS offers an excellent opportunity to work with and learn from experienced editors, writers and media professionals. You also will gain valuable experience in producing a national magazine and its Web content. Specific duties for this paid, part-time internship include research, writing, proofreading and clerical responsibilities. Internships are only available on-site in our Topeka, Kansas office.”

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Graphic Design Intern, Channel 7 Boston, Boston

“Art school students or those majoring in Graphic Design or Advertising Design with basic skills and a clear understanding of design terminology will handle a range of duties and responsibilities acting as a design assistant to the various designers in the department.”

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Sports Correspondent, isportsweb, Virtual (I think)

“Interns at isportsweb.com will be assigned to cover a sports beat for a team they have interest in.  As that team’s correspondent, interns are expected to generate multiple stories per week about that team.  These stories can and should be opinionated, and we give our writers freedom to pick topics they find relevant to their particular team.”

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Bilingual Newsroom Intern, KMGH-TV, Denver

“Bilingual News Internships program gives students real-world experience and provides a unique insight into newsroom operations for Azteca America in Denver, CO. This includes learning alongside newsroom management, reporters, photographers, producers and assignment desk editors.”

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Job

Web Editor, Yale Environment 360, New Haven

“Yale Environment 360, an award-winning online magazine based at Yale University, is seeking a Web Editor to oversee the day-to-day operations of the website. The Web Editor’s responsibilities include finding and creating photo/multimedia packages; preparing articles and images for the content management system; copy editing and proofreading; writing short articles and items; promoting the site via social networks and elsewhere; and serving as general operations manager.”

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Awards

2013 Online Journalism Awards

“Online journalists, digital news organizations and students worldwide can apply for an award.  The Online News Association (ONA) and the University of Miami School of Communication are accepting entries for the 2013 Online Journalism Awards recognizing excellence in digital reporting.  This year, ONA is incorporating non-English entries into all categories, which include: breaking news, planned news/events, explanatory reporting, topical reporting, online commentary, feature, student projects, technical innovation, innovative investigative journalism, watchdog journalism, public service and general excellence in online journalism.”

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‘Rate Your Shag’ Facebook Pages Earn Attention, Criticism at UK Universities

The College Confessions craze has reached new levels of candor and sheer lunacy. As individuals who have been anywhere near academia the past few semesters are aware, students are increasingly anonymously sharing their anxieties, flaws, private thoughts, and real and fantasy crushes on Facebook pages and Twitter feeds sporting rabid (if short-lived) fan-bases.

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The latest iteration is set so far in England.  Apparently, students at a rash of UK universities have set up “Rate Your Shag” Facebook pages in recent days.  Their aim: engaging fellow students to share stories of past sexual conquests and offer numerical scores based on how well they feel they went.  The kicker: In some cases, students name their real/alleged sexual partners, even those they give poor scores.  The principal instructions for the sordid affair: “Name them, shame them, and if you must, praise them.“

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A sample entry: “Poor effort. you obv think you’re doing a great job.  Shouting ‘I’M SO GOOD AT THIS’ never helps.  I did enjoy the location though.  Better luck next time 2/10.”

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The pages have acquired massive followings in a very short time.  For example, 8,000 devotees recently flocked to a Newcastle University “Rate Your Shag” Facebook page. University administrators and online authorities have also quickly pounced on the pages, shutting them down in most cases and also threatening legal action.

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A British legal eagle: “The courts have made clear that information about a person’s sex life is very much private.  That’s also the case even if whats being posted . . . is untrue.  They would still be able to bring a complaint.”

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Cressida Peever, a student at Durham University, is not a fan of the phenomenon.  As she writes in The Palatinate, Durham’s student newspaper, “Just as sex should be consensual for both parties, so should the sharing of information regarding it.  It is one thing to share a cheeky detail with friends.  It is another thing entirely to belittle or berate a previous (let alone current) sexual partner on the Internet. . . . This page [for Durham students] is not funny.  At best, it will be a source of shallow amusement for friends to chide each other.  At worst, it is offensive, hurtful and embarrassing that members of our university can follow such a disgusting trend.”

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Related

Students ‘Whisper’ Secrets on Popular Mobile App

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Are High School Student Newspapers in Trouble?

Are high school student newspapers disappearing en masse?  In a full-on “ink is drying up” rundown earlier this week, The New York Times documented the startling, sudden lack of student papers at New York City public high schools.

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According to the Times, “The student newspaper has long been a cherished tradition at many of the nation’s top high schools, one that allowed students to take initiative and hone their writing skills while absorbing lessons in ethics and responsibility. . . . [T]he decline of these newspapers in recent years is not a loss only for schools, but also for an industry that is fighting for survival.”

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I would add to that Times snippet: This decline– if not supplanted by digital news offerings– would also be a huge loss for college media and higher ed. journalism programs.  A student news shortage in the scholastic ranks could have as big an impact on collegemediatopia as the long-term debilitating effects of the Hazelwood decision.  (If you recall my late February Poynter piece— “We are raising a generation of sheep.”)

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Now, New York City’s scholastic press troubles are certainly troubling on their own. But is the Big Apple’s student paper shrinkage a genuine problem of national proportions?

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To help provide perspective, I solicited the thoughts of Kelly Furnas, an assistant professor of journalism at Kansas State University and the executive director of the Journalism Education Association— the country’s “largest scholastic journalism organization for teachers and advisers.”  (Shameless plug alert: He is also a contributor to Journalism of Ideas.)

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Furnas: “I haven’t seen any evidence to suggest that there’s a connection between the newspaper industry’s profit margins and the state of high school journalism programs.  However, this article looks at a segment of high schools– especially those in low-income areas– that have the hardest time maintaining elective or extra-curricular activities.  You could have just as easily replaced ‘student newspaper’ with ‘foreign language classes’ or ‘arts’ and the article probably would have read the same way.

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“There are a ton of variables that affect the viability of a student newspaper, and finances are certainly part of the equation.  While sometimes advertising helps support student newspapers, staffs also fund printing through fundraisers, sponsorships, state support, and booster programs.  Unfortunately, those schools in areas where advertising sales are challenging also are going to struggle with those other funding models, too.

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“However, I’d argue the most dangerous threat to a journalism program is the turnover of teachers in those schools.  Teaching journalism can be an especially stressful, time-intensive and lonely position, and the lack of support can be a real threat to their longevity.  Without a steady hand overseeing a journalism program, small problems can suddenly become major threats to the newspaper’s existence.”

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Related

Six Things Your Student News Outlet is Not Doing Online

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College Media Photo of the Day: Journalistic Integrity Meets Rage Comic Meets Deadly Poison

A picture posted on Twitter caught my eye this afternoon, and then made me laugh aloud, respectfully.  It’s an image of the opinion page from the last issue of the semester published by The Trail Blazer at Morehead State University.  A spirited editorial on the left flank about journalistic integrity is aligned oh-so-wonderfully with an editorial cartoon showing a student reacting to “the horrors of finals week” in full rage comic fashion.  And the capper is an oh-by-the-way headline about a deadly poison directly beneath that reaction.

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Juxtaposition is everything.  Enjoy.

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University of North Florida Spinnaker May Shift from Weekly Newspaper to Monthly Magazine

How would you feel if the Spinnaker became a glossy-print magazine?  It is the second question on a survey for University of North Florida students, faculty, and staff aimed at eliciting outside feedback in preparation for the Spinnaker’s potential shift from a weekly newspaper to a monthly newsmagazine.

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As Folio Weekly reports, “The tentative plan for publishing a magazine would call for 10 monthly issues– including two double issues– beginning in Fall 2013.  ‘People can expect more investigative news pieces and longer and more in-depth feature pieces,’ if the student publication makes the change, [editor-in-chief Jacob] Harn said.”

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According to Spinnaker adviser John Timpe, 10,000 to 12,000 copies of each monthly mag would be printed– compared to the current 4,000-print run for the weekly paper.

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Front page of a November 2012 Spinnaker.

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As Folio Weekly confirms, the Spinnaker’s student mag inspirations: Distraction at the University of Miami and Ampersand, produced by The Red & Black at the University of Georgia.

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Related

Guest Post: North Florida Spinnaker Offers New Way to Look at ‘Top News’

North Florida Spinnaker Adviser John Timpe Discusses ‘Sex Cover,’ His Role in News Production

North Florida Spinnaker ‘Sex Cover’ Controversy: Update on Funding Freeze

College Media Podcast: North Florida Spinnaker Editor Josh Gore Discusses Racy Cover Controversy

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Satirical Islam Cartoon in Australian Student Paper Stirs Controversy, Censorship

A cartoon satirizing Islam in an Australian student newspaper has triggered censorship, press coverage, and “a flurry of activity” in the land of Oz.

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The faux infographic appeared on the backpage of a recent edition of Woroni, the campus paper at Australian National University.  According to editors, the Islam-focused illustration was “the fifth in a series that satirized facets of different religions; [also featuring] chronologically, Catholicism, Scientology, Mormonism, and Judaism.”

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Cartoon critics– including some international students– “condemned the piece as insulting and offensive to Islam and to religion in general.”

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ANU officials meanwhile “felt that it actually breached the rules of the university in terms of student conduct and . . . the rules of at least the Australian Press Council principles to which Woroni abides.”  They were also at least slightly concerned about a violent response from individuals outside the campus community, along with it serving as a pinprick to the university’s standing as diversity-friendly.

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Amid these concerns, the ANU leadership has forced Woroni editors to publicly apologize and remove the page featuring the cartoon from the issue’s online archives. Hmm.

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In addition, according to editors, “the Woroni board was twice summoned to [a top administrator’s office], individually threatened with disciplinary action along with the authors of the piece, and informed that Woroni’s funding allocation could be compromised.”  Double hmm.

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A Woroni editor says it is the first time officials have adopted “such an active role in disciplining us and saying what we can and can’t publish.”

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Three larger questions prompted by ANU officials’ actions and not-so-subtle threats: Should individual students ever be punished for the work of student media as a whole? How should admins. with limited or no journalism experience judge the actual and perceived inappropriateness of student press content?  And how and when– if ever– should they intervene in the editorial process?

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An editor’s note in the Woroni: “Woroni regularly features material that is challenging, and even at times confronting.  By their very nature, universities are forums to critique ideas and beliefs. University newspapers– as a platform for students– should ideally reflect this role. . . . The editors hope that Woroni will continue to be a platform for discussion and criticism.  However, from this experience we have learnt the importance of balance and tact when dealing with highly sensitive issues.”

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Related

Media Lecturer Orders Students to Prank a Campus Newspaper– to Get a Good Grade

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College Newspaper of the Year, 2012-2013: The Emerald, University of Oregon

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“If a venture capitalist gave you $750,000 to start a media company on this campus, what would you build?”

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In April 2011, not long after he began his tenure as publisher of The Daily Emerald at the University of Oregon– since rebranded the Emerald Media Group– Ryan Frank posed this purposefully provocative question to the student staff.

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In part, Frank’s aim with the $750,000 question was to inspire students to begin redefining how they plan, produce, and present journalism and to reinvent what it means to be a college media outlet.

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As Frank told me a few weeks ago, “That was the first push we had to say, ‘Forget what we’ve done for 112 years.  Pretend you’re starting from scratch. You’ve got VC money.  You’re running a startup.  What would you build?'”

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Over the next 13 months, the early ideas stemming from that question– and many free-flowing newsroom conversations that followed– dramatically evolved.  Their endpoint was a fully-realized, uber-researched, focus-group-tested, board-approved plan for an Emerald unlike any that had come before.  Exactly one year ago today– May 23, 2012– the staff went public with their reinvention MO and what they dubbed “the start of a new era, the digital one.”  Their one-word summation of the initiative: Revolution.

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At present, 365 days after its premiere, I can excitedly confirm: the Revolution has been a rousing success.  Over the past academic year, the Emerald’s innovative efforts have been immense, frequent, and fearless.  The staff’s spirit of collaboration, lean startup style moxie, and idea development have been NONSTOP and so audacious the news, marketing, and tech teams deserve a Pulitzer for Whiteboard Brainstorming. And their push to greatly expand the breadth and depth of what it means to be a student journalist and student newspaper is so awe-inspiring it makes me smile just thinking about it.

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At this moment, within the land of collegemediatopia, there is nothing quite like the Emerald.  In the press landscape today, I can think of no greater compliment.

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In fact, the Emerald is so cutting edge it makes this (admittedly informal) award outdated.  I am honoring what I consider to be the best college newspaper of the past academic year.  But the post-revolution Emerald is no longer just a newspaper. It hasn’t been since 11:59 p.m. PST, May 22, 2012.  At midnight on the day that followed, it morphed into a full-blown, much more wide-ranging media company with a gigantic, noble mission: “to make college better.”

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On a special site erected to honor the Revolution’s one-year anniversary, staff describe 5.23.2012 as simply “the day everything changed.”

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Sharing that sentiment, I do believe the Emerald is changing college media greatly, for the better– setting a foundation for how to more richly report and share news; how to unleash digital journalism’s potential; how to generate revenue; how to structure staff; how to mesh marketing, advertising, events planning, tech tinkering, and pure journalism; how to merge professional and student staff; and how to remind readers of student journalism’s sexiness and significance.

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During an exclusive chat with me last night, incoming and outgoing Emerald editors-in-chief Andy Rossback and Sam Stites shared their perspectives on the Emerald’s accomplishments over the past year, laid out some plans for next year, and offered advice for student news teams looking to follow in their innovative stead. [Click on the play button in the audio track below to listen to the interview in full.]

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Interview: Emerald editors Andy Rossback & Sam Stites

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At the end of the chat, Rossback summed up the Emerald staff’s stellar work ethic– and its link to the place they call home.  In his words:

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All of us here really identify as Oregonians.  We identify with the pioneer spirit . . . the Oregon Trail and coming out West, searching for the edge of the world.  That’s really what we’re trying to do in our own way.  It’s kind of like Oregon’s football team.  It’s a flash of innovation and speed. And it’s everything about being an Oregonian or a Pacific Northwesterner. We love trying really hard and working really hard to come up with the best thing that we can.  We like to impress ourselves every day.  We try to impress each other.  And [the element of] surprise is, I think, probably my favorite part of working at the Emerald– walking into a room and people are talking about something that is totally next level.  I love working in an environment like that.  I think it’s probably a similar feeling to how [world-famous distance runner] Steve Prefontaine felt running around the track at Oregon or around Eugene or around Coos Bay.  His quote, I’ll read it for you here in close.  It says, “How does a kid from Coos Bay with one leg longer than the other win races? All my life people have been telling me, ‘You’re too small, Pre.’  You’re not fast enough, Pre.  Give up your foolish dream, Steve.’  But they forgot something.  I HAVE TO WIN.”  That’s hanging right above my computer screen.  Right next to a picture of Steve Jobs that says, “I want to put a ding in the universe.”

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Related

College Newspaper of the Year, 2011-2012: The Daily Collegian, Penn State University

Oregon Daily Emerald ‘Reinvented for the Digital Age’: Announces Revolutionary Changes

5 Early Lessons from the Oregon Daily Emerald’s Digital Reinvention

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6 Tips for Journalists Covering Tornadoes & Other Weather Catastrophes

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As the most recent natural disaster in Moore, Oklah., shows, coverage of weather events is an increasingly vital skill for journalists worldwide– including, of course, in the state of Oklahoma.

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According to Judy Gibbs Robinson, the veteran editorial adviser to The Oklahoma Daily and OUDaily.com at the University of Oklahoma, “[Monday’s] F4 tornado just to the north of our campus occurred during one-day training for the small summer staff [of The Oklahoma Daily, which is a weekly during summer break].  Needless to say, we were not prepared.  As the afternoon and evening unrolled, I discovered how little this current group of young students knows about covering weather (in Oklahoma!).  So I created a handout for them titled ‘How to Cover Weather Stories.'”

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Among the tools and tips Robinson shares on the handout, some of which she learned from the 2013 SPJ Region 8 conference:

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1. Get news releases from the National Weather Service.

Go to the National Weather Service website at http://www.srh.noaa.gov.  [Next, click on the relevant spot on the map for local weather information.]  Click on “news” in the top navigation bar.  And scroll to “media registration” to register to receive news releases.

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2. Follow InteractiveNWS.

iNWS is the new, and experimental, mobile and desktop application from the National Weather Service.  Use it to receive customized text message and email alerts for weather info you care about.  Go to http://inws.wrh.noaa.gov

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3. Social Media.

Follow the (fill in your city here) NWS office on Facebook and Twitter for real-time weather reports.  Links are on the website:  http://www.srh.noaa.gov.

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4. NWS Chat.

Go to https://nwschat.weather.gov to register to participate in an instant, real-time chat between the media and the emergency response community.

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5. NWS Chat Live.

Here is an enhanced version of NWS chat– not sure how they are different though: https://nwschat.weather.gov/live/

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**Bonus Tip: Find Out About the Kids.

Candace Baltz, general manager of student publications at Washington State University, has one more essential weather coverage tip.  In her words, “As someone who found herself covering tornadoes live on-air last spring for several hours at a time– and with no personal tornado experience to pull from– I found the info our listeners were most interested in was not just where the storm is and where it’s heading, but their kids– what to do about the kids.  So I’d highly suggest including the school district spokesperson contact info, as well as the police and city, so you can report that the kids are on lockdown or dismissing early, etc.  That may not be as interesting for a college publication, but it’s still good info to get.”

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10 Life Lessons Shared in Student Newspaper Goodbye Columns (Part 2)

As the academic year at last draws to a close and the Class of 2013 leaves campus for good, advice is everywhere– in commencement speeches, parent chats, and student newspaper columns.

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Along with adults who supposedly know better, current upperclassmen and graduating seniors are offering endless words of wisdom to their student peers on making the most of the college experience and the post-grad transition.

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Some of the advice published in student papers lately opines on big picture issues. Other tips touch on the small stuff. In respect to the latter, as The Badger Herald at the University of Wisconsin-Madison recently suggested, “Always carry cash. . . . Never let anyone drive your car. . . . [And] only date excellence.”

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In this second part of a two-part feature, here is a sampling of the excellent advice– big and small– students have shared publicly in recent weeks.

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Figure Out What’s Right, Not What’s Right Now.  As Meg O’Connor, a student at the University of Minnesota, writes in The Minnesota Daily, “Graduation provides a time for people to reflect on what exactly it is they want to do. Don’t jump into something because it is what your parents want for you or because you feel that it is the ‘right thing to do.’ Do what feels right for you. We have the rest of our lives to be working professionals, so taking a couple years off or even just a summer away to give you a break sounds like a mighty fine idea to me. . . . It’s more important to figure out what is right rather than what is right now.”

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Know A Little About A Lot.  As Amanda Butcher, a student at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, confirms in The Torch, “Your college major might not matter so much to employers. In fact, four of five employers said that graduates should have a general arts and sciences knowledge, rather than something ultra-specific. . . . If you know a little about a lot of things, you can always be taught specifics. . . . Hardly anyone ends up in the job they started out in. As people advance in their career, they need to have more knowledge than they started out with. Having a broad spectrum of knowledge would make employers think they can let you move higher on the totem pole of the company.”

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Voice Your Opinions, on All Available Platforms.  As Zack Scott, a student at Temple University, contends in The Temple News, “Writing opinions in the more traditional sense will always have its benefits and will never truly go away. . . . But there is absolutely no excuse for anyone to be avoiding letting their opinions be heard when the threshold for publication has never been so low. Whether through social media, blogs or even comment threads, you can publish your thoughts and people will actually read and be influenced by them. By any standard, that is incredible. And to not take advantage of it would be nothing short of irresponsible.”

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Recognize What You’ve Already Accomplished.  As Dennis Biles, a graduating senior at San Jose State University, writes in The Spartan Daily, “For those of you who are about to graduate and feel nervous about the next step, stop quivering in your boots of foreboding and realize you’re more prepared than you may think. Just getting through college, especially in today’s America, is a significant achievement in itself. . . . Going to college now is harder than at any time in the past. It’s more expensive and more challenging than anything your predecessors dealt with before … Take it from me, if you’re able to survive college you’re well prepared to survive the real world.”

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Admit Your Own Stupidity.  As A.J. Artis, a graduating senior at Emory University, notes in his final humor column for The Emory Wheel, “You can’t make fun of people for being stupid unless you admit that you are also stupid. No one has anything all figured out. And to mock someone for not having things figured out, without acknowledging your own lack of direction, is not funny. The best stories are the ones that secretly say, ‘I’m pathetic.’ If you want to be funny, hide your feelings or make fun of them. And of course, write on the toilet.”

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10 Life Lessons Shared in Student Newspaper Goodbye Columns (Part 1)

As the academic year at last draws to a close and the Class of 2013 leaves campus for good, advice is everywhere– in commencement speeches, parent chats, and student newspaper columns.

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Along with adults who supposedly know better, current upperclassmen and graduating seniors are offering endless words of wisdom to their student peers on making the most of the college experience and the post-grad transition.

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Some of the advice published in student papers lately opines on big picture issues. Other tips touch on the small stuff. In respect to the latter, as The Badger Herald at the University of Wisconsin-Madison recently suggested, “Always carry cash. . . . Never let anyone drive your car. . . . [And] only date excellence.”

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In this first part of a two-part feature, here is a sampling of the excellent advice– big and small– students have shared publicly in recent weeks.

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Take Responsibility, Along with Naps.  As Caroline Kelly, a graduating senior at James Madison University, writes in The Breeze, “Everything is your own responsibility now. You have total freedom over your schedule. I’ve had some friends come out of high school and gleefully frolic through this new world of naps whenever you want and no parents, and then flounder when they found themselves waist-deep in work due tomorrow. You can do whatever you want, but you also have to do things you don’t want. Absolutely no one is going to make you write your essays, go to class or eat your veggies but you. Teachers aren’t interested in hearing how you felt really bad, that your stomach hurt and that’s why your big essay is late. Everything you do is on you.”

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Talk to Professors After Class.  As Yishai Schwartz, a graduating senior at Yale University, advises in The Yale Daily News, “Linger in the hallways.  The best of what I learned from my professors didn’t come in the lecture hall or the seminar room, or even in office hours. It came in the half-hour after class when most students had dispersed, but a few of us lingered in the hallway. . . . There’s no hand-raising or phony pontification in the hallway. Professors let their hair down and engage, and you learn what they really believe, enjoying the freedom to press and push. And when they make little sense, you can interrupt and question and argue, free of the fear that you’ll look stupid in front of your classmates.”

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Enjoy Summer.  As Anthony Bellafiore, a junior at Penn State University, writes in The Daily Collegian, “[F]or those of you who adhere to the non-senior category, please don’t pretend to be so happy when we all return in September.  Because yes, college is great and all but summer is about as close to perfect as we are ever going to get. . . . So get excited. Get out there and enjoy it.  Make sure you take full advantage. Unlike the parties, the bars, the football and the work– if that’s your sort of thing– it won’t be around forever.”

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Say Thank You.  As Lexi Thoman, a graduating senior at the University of Mississippi, confirms in The Daily Mississippian, “As students, we are in control of our own futures.  But without the mentorship and guidance of our professors and advisers, most of us would not be as successful as we are today. Sometimes the smallest comment or slightest nudge in the right direction is all it takes to make a huge difference. . . . [N]ever forget to say, ‘Thank you.’  A quick email or stop in their office is all it takes to leave a lasting impression and set you apart from the thousands of other graduates in the Class of 2013. Humility may be a fading art in our generation, but no one should be above giving thanks to those who deserve it.”

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Get Off Campus.  As Alexis Paine, a graduating senior at the University of Alabama, notes in The Crimson White, “[G]o out and get involved. You’ll regret sitting at home when all of your friends are reminiscing about all the fun they had meeting new people and experiencing new things. Do what you can to bolster your résumé now. Get some real world experience and find out what your passion is.”

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To Be Continued…

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Are You an Unemployed Journalism Grad? Start Singing!

An unemployed Spaniard twentysomething with a journalism degree and no job has gone viral for singing— yes, singing– about his credentials on the subway.

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As The Huffington Post shares, “While a friend filmed, Enzo Vizcaino strummed on a ukulele and serenaded straphangers on the Barcelona Metro. . . . Fortunately, after the video was posted on YouTube and shared widely on social media, the job offers flooded in.”

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Check out the video of his performance.  His song is in Spanish, so I’ve included a translation of most of the lyrics below.

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Among the lyrics:

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Degree in journalism
and a master’s diploma
that is folded right here,
in case you’d like to see it.

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Complementary training:
An online course I found on Groupalia
about community management.
I’m an expert on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest,
Linkedin and MySpace.

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Professional experience,
at a local radio station,
with a fellowship contract,
that was unpaid, of course. . . .

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I’m the King of Word,
Excel, and Powerpoint.
I control Photoshop.

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Don’t reach for your wallet,
I’m not here to ask for money.
Though maybe you have a friend or relative. . . .
Need a journalist, screenwriter,
writer or editor,
music composer.

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Or maybe you’re looking for a more basic service.
I also know how to kneel
and for a special price
I will let you whip me.

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For more information
always at your disposition
my profile is at Infojobs.

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Related

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Daily Iowan Publisher: ‘Anybody Can Work Here as Long as They’re Not an A**hole’

Longtime Daily Iowan archivist and librarian Caroline Dieterle is leaving the University of Iowa student newspaper at semester’s end.  Due to digitization, her position is being eliminated.

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As Dieterle told the DI for a brief retrospective piece, “I’m not [retiring]. I am being made redundant here with what is being made with technology.  I would be happy enough to file the paper indefinitely as long as I was healthy enough to drag myself down to the newsroom.”

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Her appreciable candor extends to her memories of first obtaining the position in 1977.  As she recalled about the bottom-line hiring standards imposed by the paper’s publisher William Casey: “Bill said anybody can work here as long as they’re not an asshole.  You know, over the years I have had some pretty strong opinions and worked on a bunch of campaigns; there has never been any flack from anybody here about how I should shut up . . . because it was a place where people respected free speech and the idealism of the Fourth Estate.”

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There is still a long way to go in 2013, but this has my early vote for college media quote of the year.

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Dieterle gave a similarly juicy one almost exactly three years ago for an in-house university report.  Her initial thoughts on joining the Daily Iowan: “[T]he DI’s reputation as a very liberal, far-out place– to the point of appearing ‘scandalous’ to some– was very appealing.  When I told people I was working there, I heard worried comments about the loose living of the staff, drugs, drinking, etc.  This did not put me off at all.”

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University of Oklahoma Student Media Director Resigns

Brian Ringer has resigned from his position as director of student media at the University of Oklahoma, according to multiple trusted sources at OU.

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Most recently, in a brief phone chat, Judy Gibbs Robinson, the editorial adviser to The Oklahoma Daily and OUDaily.com, confirmed, “It is my understanding that Brian has resigned.”

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It is unclear at the moment when he officially tendered his resignation, or if the official part has even yet occurred. But he apparently left the building, literally, yesterday   A student editor at OU described the scene Tuesday in Copeland Hall, student media’s HQ:

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“Brian left the building a few moments before Susan Sasso, associate vice president and associate dean of students, walked in and gathered up all of the pro staff.  She led them over to a conference room inside The Oklahoma Daily’s office and they stayed there for maybe an hour. Eventually, Brian was led back over to the building by an unidentified man and I saw him cleaning out his office.  It was the saddest thing I’ve ever seen.  He packed up his office, box by box, was escorted to the parking lot and handed over his keys.”

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As of this afternoon, Ringer’s bio is still featured on the OU Student Media website. He is also still the contact person on the main phone line voicemail.

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Emails to Sasso, OU public affairs staffer Jerri Culpepper, and Ringer have so far gone unanswered.  From what I gather, a university statement is forthcoming.  I will post the statement and any replies I receive as they come in.

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It is my understanding at this time there is NOT a connection between Ringer’s departure and the parking tickets lawsuit filed late last week by a former OU Daily editor.

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If you have any additional information, please email me.

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Former OU Daily Editor Files Lawsuit Against University of Oklahoma Over Student Parking Tickets

A former Oklahoma Daily online editor is suing the University of Oklahoma to gain access to student parking ticket records.

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Joey Stipek, an OU senior, filed the lawsuit Friday against university president David Boren and Open Records Office director Rachel McCombs.  The suit alleges the school has repeatedly, and illegally, rebuffed his efforts to acquire “records he believes are public”– and potentially newsworthy.

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As he wrote in March, “OU gave out almost 52,000 parking citations last year, then dismissed almost a third of them. But you won’t find out here whether athletes, student leaders, faculty or any other special interest group got special treatment.  The reason?  OU won’t release the records.”

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Why the lawsuit specifically?  Stipek’s attorney Nick Harrison, also a former OU Daily staffer, tells the Student Press Law Center it is partially to keep the university honest. In his words, “Administrators try to sit and wait it out until students graduate or lose interest.  They don’t think they have to follow the law.”

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The university is citing the privacy monster FERPA (the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act) as the backbone behind its decision to not release the ticket info.

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In a letter to the Daily this spring, the school’s director of parking and transportation services noted “the university has provided information on locations of tickets given and statistics regarding the numbers of tickets issued . . . [as well as] information related to any non-student ticket recipient, including faculty, staff or university guests to whom the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act does not apply.” (Stipek denies the latter claim in his lawsuit, saying the university told him it did not possess “the technological capabilities” to separate students from non-students in its tickets database.)

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Bottom line, for now, from OU’s view, student tickets are exempt from public scrutiny.

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How truly private are parking tickets though, given their actual targets and method of distribution?  In March, SPLC executive director Frank LoMonte told the Daily, “Tickets are issued to cars, not people. The ticket is not a record belonging to and directly relating to the student. . . . A parking ticket is left stuck on the window of a car where passing pedestrians can look at it.  Would the college put your report card underneath your windshield wiper, or a copy of your transcript?“

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At least one superior court judge in North Carolina also finds the FERPA foundation shaky when it comes to student parking violations.  In a spring 2011 ruling related to a parking tickets access lawsuit filed by UNC’s Daily Tar Heel and other media, judge Howard Manning voiced his support for transparency.  As he wrote at the time, “FERPA does not provide a student with an invisible cloak so that the student can remain hidden from public view.”

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In a related sense, the Daily has been waging a larger transparency fight since last fall– filing lots of public records requests and even keeping a running tally on its website.

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As top staff explained in an editorial in November, “The average citizen won’t often check a committee’s minutes or a politician’s phone records, but these freedoms allow the press to do it for you and to engage in the reporting that uncovers and stops abuses of power. . . . So from now on, we’ll be watching. We’ll be filing more requests for access to significant records so we can fulfill our role by give you the information you need to intelligently wield your political power.”

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The most recent request, submitted by the paper yesterday, is for a rundown of all lawsuits filed against university leadership in the past five years.  The stated rationale is “to get a better perspective on what this most recent lawsuit means for OU.”

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Related

University of Oklahoma Student Media Director Resigns

Oklahoma Daily Has Filed 147 Open Records Requests So Far This Year– See Them All on Its Website

Oklahoma Daily Faces Backlash After Posting Deceased Student’s Autopsy Report

Student Parking Violations: Off-Limits or Fair to Report?

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Student Government to Student Newspaper: ‘If Staff is Passionate, They Should Work at Paper for Free’

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Student government funding for The Spectator at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania has been cut in half for the next academic year, from $48,000 to less than $24,000.  The financial fallout means a dozen top Spectator staffers will no longer be paid and the paper will publish far fewer copies and possibly less frequently in print– shifting from a weekly to a bimonthly.

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Spectator EIC Meagen Finnerty: “Student government officials ‘told us that if our staff members are passionate then they should work at campus media for free.  But for the number of hours we work here, that isn’t feasible.”

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The harsh 50 percent funding cut is actually less than the sudden drops for other student media at Edinboro.  According to an Erie Times-News report, “Under the student government proposal, Edinboro’s student radio station, WFSE-FM 88.9, would receive $13,600. That is less than a quarter of the $64,430 requested.  The student television station, E-TV, would receive $15,000 after requesting about $40,000.  Pay for staff members would also be eliminated at the radio and television stations.”

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WFSE is the eighth-largest station in the greater Erie market.  General manager Jason Hoffman, about the loss of staff pay: “When it comes down to it, the fact is that students can’t give enough of their time when they’re out there needing to work another job . . . and because of that, we are going to be unable to stay competitive in the Erie market.”

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Times are apparently a bit tough for the university’s student leaders overall. Enrollment at the school is dropping and the SG has roughly $500,000 less to disperse to campus groups than the previous year.

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Meanwhile, tweets late last month show Spectator staff were apparently concerned the funding cuts might shut the paper down entirely.

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Related

UC Irvine Students Approve $3 Plan to Keep Campus Newspaper in Print

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