On the stories that stuck out over the years:

Some of the stories you remember are not the biggest ones. Sometimes it’s the smaller stories that make more of an impression on you. I wrote a story in Rochester, out in a rural part of the Rochester area in 1968 and they were talking about integration and busing. Out of the whole audience there was one black couple sitting in the back. After all the white people got up and used all the clichés about integration and their opposition to it, this black guy stood up, and I can remember his name, Tal Moore, he got up and talked, and people were shocked, because they didn’t even know a black man was there. He talked about how we all just need to get to know each other. That story to me — and I was in the newspaper business for about nine years — to me that was the best story I ever wrote. The guy was just eloquent, people applauded him after he talked. And again, it was not the biggest story in the world, but it’s a story I have clippings of, and I’ll always have clippings of it.

On how the industry has changed:

The economics of the business have changed a lot. The shift in the choices that are being made by readers and listeners of radio have changed. Certainly the technology of television has changed tremendously, it’s still changing. When I first started we were still using film. It was a lot more difficult at the time.

On what hasn’t changed:

The basic principles of the business have not changed. The principles of fairness, accuracy and thoroughness, they haven’t changed, but the tools have changed. In some ways it’s better, in a lot of ways there are problems because the economics are such that it’s difficult to run a newspaper or a TV station, given the fiscal constraints. It’s difficult to deliver as good a product as you did in the past. By the same token, I think there are a lot of positive things that are happening. A lot of younger people are coming into the business who are better educated than we ever were. There are pluses and minuses. It’s not that things have gotten worse, it’s just that they’ve changed. Nobody knows how things are going to be – your bosses don’t know, my bosses don’t know, how it’s going to be 25, 30 years from now.

On learning how to be a reporter:

A lot of [the younger journalists] went to journalism school where they took courses in media ethics and things like that. We learned from people who were already on the job. There were always the older, experienced reporters and that’s how we learned. They’re the ones who told you, ‘hey, we don’t do that’, or ‘that’s not what newspeople do’, ‘you’re story is not as fair or as balanced as it should be’. It’s just a question of where you learned it. I think a lot of kids are getting it from a college where we used to get it from the curmudgeons in the newsroom, the old men and women who were there for years before you arrived.

On covering his hometown:

It’s fantastic. It’s one of the reasons I came back from Rochester. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle when I worked there was an excellent newspaper and it was really a writer’s newspaper. They encouraged creative writing. But, I missed Albany and Troy. I missed covering people that I knew and I missed covering the political scene here in Albany and Troy. There ain’t no politics like the Capital District, I tell you. You go to Buffalo, Rochester, any place in the state, it’s not like here. You see what’s going on. There’s always a scandal, always something popping.

On seeing it all:

That’s the thing about it, you haven’t seen it all. That’s what I like about this business. A lot of it I’ve seen and it’s repetitive, but there’s always something new. There’s always a new angle to a story or new people on the scene who are going to do things differently. That’s news reporting — the idea that it’s different. It’s news. It’s different every day I go in. I don’t want to know what I’m going to be doing tomorrow. I like to take it as it comes and see what tomorrow’s story is.

I never really used to be a podcast person — I always preferred listening to music and found the talking distracting, especially if I was working on something else at the time (and who has time to just sit around and listen to something? I’m all about multitasking).

Maybe my boyfriend’s talk radio listening habits are rubbing off on me, because lately I’ve developed a habit of listening to various media-related podcasts while going through my Google News Alerts in the morning. I like the Morning Media Menu series from MediaBistro, and at 15 minutes, they’re easy to digest.

This morning for the first time I checked out the Rebooting the News podcast series with Jay Rosen and Dave Winer. I started following @jayrosen_nyu a little while ago after he tweeted about Journal Register Company (JRC, my future employer) CEO John Paton’s blog covering the JRC overhaul, and Rosen is also heading up the new East Village blog venture between NYU and the New York Times (I’m always interested when journalism and academics mix).

This podcast is definitely longer, and might be better served from a more dedicated listen, as my ear tended to wander and then periodically get dragged back to specific topics they were covering (NYT pay wall, Twitter in Google search results, etc.).

At one point Dave Winer mentioned football, which always grabs my attention. He made a nice metaphor about how journalists often fail to step back and give themselves room the way quarterbacks sometimes do, and then he said the following about the survival of journalists and news organizations:

What you need inside these news organizations, Jay, is, I know this, you never hear it, but you need people who love news. And aren’t scared by news. Who think that news is the greatest thing that God ever invented.

And a person who really really really loves news — and by the way I’m not saying there aren’t a lot of people at these organizations that do, absolutely, but they’ve got their heads… it’s like, if you think your way towards dancing, you don’t do any dancing. The secret to dancing is to just try to look stupid. Instead of worrying about looking stupid, the trick is to try to look stupid. Just get out there and make a fool of yourself and sooner or later you’re going to be dancing.

So if you really love news, then what you have to do is you have to start acting that way, and you have to start doing things that are just wonderful for news. I know I’ve said this before on this podcast, but it’s got to be said over and over again because it’s so important. But just go have fun, it’s a great time to be alive and news, we’ve got these phenomenal networks that make news work so much better than it ever has before. What a wonderful time to be in the news business this is.

“What a wonderful time to be in the news business this is.” There are probably many that would disagree with this, who would say that the news business is dying and that all the best years are in the past. But I agree with Winer — every day there are newer, better technologies that allow us to not only better provide the public with the vital information and analysis, but to have a conversation with that public and engage their opinions, ideas and stories.

Winer’s message is one that a lot of discouraged, struggling journalists need to hear. You don’t become a journalist because of money, recognition or the great working environment — and if you do, you’re doing it wrong — but because you (really really really) love news. So don’t focus on whether or not your story will scare off an advertiser, get enough clicks or land you an award that will let you keep your job over the dozens of other reporters. Focus on the news, because that’s what you love about journalism, and when you do what you love, the rest will work itself out.

Click here to check out the Rebooting the News podcast, it’s worth a listen.

I’m writing in response to another Ask the Recruiter column, this time about an aspiring journalist with an impressive resume coming from a small college.

In his column, Joe Grimm offers some pretty good advice to the student — on his jaw-dropping sixth internship at a daily newspaper — who seems to be having some problems breaking into a bigger daily publication.

It is unclear whether he is trying to land another internship or an actual job, but as both processes are similar, the advice (network harder, reach out to recruiters) is applicable to either.

I want to elaborate on this topic, because while I don’t have nearly the amount of internships and accolades as this student, I do come from a small school and can relate to his situation.

I come from a private college with a relatively small (but growing) Communications department and an even smaller student newspaper.

I’ve been able to turn that into a positive, though, by playing up the fact that because the school/newspaper is so small, I had to take on more roles and become more independent.

I’m obviously biased, but editors at small schools/newspapers often have to be well-rounded, resourceful and willing to take the initiative to make things happen.

However, at a small school — especially if it’s also in a small town — it can be easier to get trapped inside the campus bubble. I’ve seen many students who are so focused on school, work or campus activities that they don’t bother to do any kind of off-campus networking until they reach that oh-crap-I’m-graduating-in-two-months-what-do-I-do phase.

Now, keep in mind that the student in the Ask the Recruiter column is going after a top-size newspaper — with his credentials he could probably have landed a job at a smaller pub now.

But, if you want to be a journalist and come from a smaller school, here are some things to keep in mind:

• Break out of the bubble — Don’t let a lack of media-related events or activities on your campus hold you back. Seek out professional organizations (many have student membership prices and mentorship programs) and attend every panel, workshop and lecture you can find and talk to people while you’re there.
• Take pride in your publication — Don’t play down the low circulation or small staff of your college paper. If, as Editor-in-Chief, you were also Web Editor, Advertising Manager, Business Manager and Layout Editor, put that in your resume. Working at a small publication makes you versatile, and that’s what makes you valuable.
• Use your professors — While larger universities may have more big-name professors with industry connections, at a smaller school, the professors will actually talk to you. Set up informational interviews and see if any would be willing to advise on a project. You paid a lot of money for those small class sizes — take advantage of them.
• Go it alone — So maybe your school doesn’t offer classes in multimedia production or have the resources for a daily student newspaper. That’s ok — you can still improve your skill set and experience by starting your own blog, Internet TV show or podcast. Sure, having the support of a college or university helps tremendously, but the benefit of taking on an independent project is that you’re no longer just a student, but an entrepreneur with obvious passion and initiative.

However, while social media can definitely be a useful tool for a reporter, the implications of a social media presence for journalists and news organizations are still not entirely clear.

The release of the Social Media and Blogging Guidelines today by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) is an effort to help those in the news media protect themselves against some of the pitfalls of social media.

The guidelines focus on fairness, privacy and transparency and stress that when it comes to social media, nothing is private and journalists aren’t allowed to express personal opinions online — unless they want to open themselves up to complaints and potential libel suits.

The RTDNA also encourages plenty of newsroom discussion about the role of social media in reporting and sourcing (and references the infamous Twitter reports after the Fort Hood shooting, which I wrote about here) and the importance of — say it with me — formal, written protocols for action if a problem involving social media were to arise.

These guidelines just drive home the point that with journalism — no matter what the medium — it is important to act ethically and to have a plan.

Complete guidelines are available here. RTDNA members can check out the “Law & Ethics: Social Media Edition” webinar.