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I love popping up in unexpected places. This summer's unexpected place? The AFRO-American Newspapers. Yesterday marked the last day of a 10-week experience as an intern journalist. As a cognitive science and computer science double major, I've fielded a lot of questions the past few months about why I chose to intern at a newspaper. I have a normal answer to that — I just wanted communications experience — but oftentimes, I focus my answer more on the ability of cross-industry involvement to evoke pivotal changes in my approach to work within fields more directly related to me. This summer, I've learned things about journalism that shocked me (would you believe writing is actually the least important part of putting an article together?). But beyond that, constant deadlines forced me to confront my tendency to demand perfection from my writing, as I found that getting the point across as quickly as possible is much more important in journalism than expressing that point in an eloquent way. I faced my fear of approaching people, as the many, many on-the-street interviews I've done involve walking up to random people and hoping they'll be nice and answer my questions (people are surprisingly willing to do this, actually). Above all, I've gained a newfound respect for the role journalism plays in society and for the fearlessness with which journalists approach the world. I'd also like to extend a special thanks to all of my fellow interns, whose camaraderie made the stressful portions of this internship bearable, and also to the InBaltimore internship program, run by The Life Design Lab at Homewood - Johns Hopkins University, which made this whole thing possible. If you're interested in checking out some of the pieces I've published, you can find the articles that have been published online here: afro.com/?s=Lizzie+Suber.

Sharing opportunities is a vital step to promote inclusion. I hope the selection process is as transparent.

Championing Campus Journalism: The Power of Dedication and the Value of Internship Opportunities I have a deep appreciation for passionate campus journalists who are fully committed to their roles. I remember how I enjoyed my internship under Ismaeel Uthman of Osun defenders and the Nation newspaper. I enjoyed working with FRCN,Osun State as well as serving as News Writer and Associate editor for Namacos Online. A post that made not to graduate as the best student. Back to the gist, Each morning, I make it a point to rise as early as 6:00 a.m. to support our reporters and content creators. My responsibilities include providing story direction, setting content agendas, and ensuring that all our stories align with our house style. Although there have been occasional concerns regarding punctuality, that’s not the central focus here. What truly excites me is witnessing the dedication of Abdulhaqq Obisesan , one of our campus correspondents. He has taken charge of our campus gist desk, first class diary series(interviews) and consistently submits stories on scholarships and opportunities for review. It’s a pleasure to collaborate with someone so dedicated. Just last night, sometime past 9:00 p.m. or a few minutes before 10:00, we worked on a story together. And here he is this morning, already sending in stories ahead of publication. This level of commitment is invaluable. In addition, it's important to highlight the power of internship opportunities for campus journalists. These internships not only provide invaluable experience but also allow them to hone their craft in a real-world setting. It’s also essential for companies to recognize the hard work these young professionals put in behind the scenes and to treat them with the respect and consideration they deserve. Their contributions often go unnoticed, but they play a crucial role in the success of any media organization. Cheers to all hardworking interns or freelance journalists! Akeem Alao, your boy is doing wonders! Do you intend to intern with a media outlet,DM,let's talk.

In the past few years, particularly since I started teaching journalism and returned to LinkedIn, I’ve noticed a growing trend among newly minted journalists and media students. Many actively update their LinkedIn profiles with every professional development, including projects and internships. As someone who began my career in a pre-social media era, I find this focus on hustling and building contacts rather than hard work a bit amusing. I recall how challenging it was during my undergraduate years to secure even an internship. Back then, showcasing my work primarily involved investing in and maintaining my own website. Publicity never overshadowed the hard work necessary for good journalism. It’s crucial for the younger generation to understand the importance of hard work. No amount of hustling or sending cold messages to senior journalists without concrete story ideas or proposals will help. Here are a few things to keep in mind: 1. Select Your Area of Focus: Choose an area, medium, or form that you are passionate about. Whether it’s gender, environment, health, politics, or international affairs, pick a topic and create a niche by developing and pitching stories. Get published and build a strong body of work. 2. Publicize Your Work:Share your stories on social media to showcase your achievements rather than randomly contacting senior professionals. Let your work speak for itself. 3. Build Your Unique Proposition: Based on your work, develop a unique proposition for collaboration with senior professionals. A solid body of work makes senior professionals more likely to engage with you. Connections are important, but they need to be backed by substantial work. Focus on hard work first, and the right connections will follow.

Diversity in the newsroom really isn’t about advancing any type of agenda. It’s about giving more voices to more people. The more voices of more people in the newsroom, the more perspective goes into story selection, question development, angle development, and more. Big cities should also do these types of programs to bridge the urban-rural disparities in news coverage, which, to me, is an even greater disparity in this age of shuttered newsrooms than ethnic diversity and color.

Publication news! Our article (Ivar John Erdal, Charlotte L. L. Helleland & Tormod Utne “How should journalism education deal with evolving newsrooms? – Learning experiences from internships through online collaborative tools” is published Open Access in Journal of Media Practice and Education. https://lnkd.in/drVCP5uF The article diverges from the trend of newsrooms downsizing, reduction of in-house staff, and increased remote digital collaboration. Furthermore, it examines how these evolved newsrooms are perceived as learning spaces for journalist students doing their internship training. Spoiler alert!: The students aren`t fund of it. It is not their preferred way of learning. They wish to learn and work in busy and vibrant newsrooms with physical colleagues to collaborate with and support them. This represents challenges both journalism educators and the industry should consider when developing their curriculum or wishing to attract new talents. Thanks to Olaug Bjørneset for her contribution conducting interviews.

If you are considering whether or not to take an internship in a journalism-related job, hope this article will help you. Why I took this chance? My undergraduate studies were in e-commerce, which was designed to be more of a network and new media specialism. During this time, I became interested in the all-encompassing, imaginative and fresh-blooded media industry, so after graduation, I applied to the University of Sydney's postgraduate programme in Media Practice. Not only did I learn how to write news stories professionally, but I also produced my own audio and video work, learnt something about PR strategies, and social issues marketing, and became aware of the importance of news to the world and people's lives from a global perspective. In the process, I have become passionate about journalism, believing that as long as I am willing to explore and communicate with people, I can always discover something I have never noticed before, and gain a deeper understanding of how society works. Moreover, using my professional knowledge to amplify the voices of the underprivileged is a very meaningful thing, which deepens my concern and sense of responsibility for society.  Therefore, I chose to participate in the school's capstone internship programme and was fortunate enough to end up with a three-month internship at the People's Daily. What did I gain from the internship? I realized that the skills required of journalists in the industry market are varied and are not limited to being able to take news photos, write quick and concise press releases, conduct interviews with people from different walks and ages, build relationships, and so on. Within this short period, I made many friends from different companies/industries, and interacting with them broadened my circle of knowledge. This requires journalists to build up a wide range of knowledge about various industries and hot topics in society and to polish their communication skills. This is full of challenges and fun. For example, in the Australia-China cultural exchange and tourism promotion activities, I interviewed several representatives of the participating companies and Mayer. I talked with them in face and learnt about the cultural history of the Purple Sand Pot Company from Jiangsu Province and the history of their family company; the development of the tea product sales company in Australia; and how Ctrip, a large Chinese travel company, promotes the "Lan Mekong Co-operation" tourism mechanism (which includes tourism co-operation between China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam), etc. The advantages of such an experience cannot be compared to looking for answers through online research.

This article featuring the experience of RHC senior Rachel Hajec illustrates how pairing classroom work with experiential learning in internship or other opportunities, can be truly transformative. Well done Rachel!

At Little Leaf, we've had more than our fair share of jobs within journalism and publishing, but not without struggles. Our Founder Kathryn struggled to get a job at a local newspaper, our Comms Manager had to work an unpaid internship for one year in London before gaining any credibility. and our USA PR Director has had more unpaid internships than you could imagine. We know how much of a slog it is to get into this industry and receive a living wage, so we want to do everything we can to support the journalists who have been laid off or fear for their jobs at this uncertain time. Here are some pointers of how you can help in these horrid times. ✍️Personalised Pitching Save a journalist's inbox by only sending them stories that are relevant to them, that they can pitch to editors or publish themselves. Cold pitching is out (and has been for a while). 🗣️Be Attentive Journalists don't have time now to chase stories that you have promised them. Make sure to make their lives and jobs as easy as possible. 📢Use Your Voice Do use your platform to stand with the journalists. Reach out to them, let them know that they are not alone in this mass layoff period, and ask how you can further assist. ✅Check-In If your job is secure, try not to start a pitch with "Yay it's almost Friday!!". It's easy to get carried away when pitching, but just remember the receiver of this email may be having a horrible start to the year. 🎨Be Creative AI is slowly taking over, it's even writing pitches now. This is a huge threat, 'Rage Against the Machine', don't give in to AI's temptation and save the creative industry! 🔎Research Look for new platforms and techniques for writers to get their point across and share complex viewpoints. https://lnkd.in/g5vAhUir

New Post: The New Apprenticeship: Rethinking Journalism in Today's Job Market While I may not work as a journalist today, I use my journalism degree every single day. A few (more) reflections on fractional work, degrees and the modern apprenticeship model. The trouble with helping people think about jobs or career is that you need to be in the mindset of a job-seeker in order to really internalize the advice. Which means we really need to solve for two problems at once: Make sure places that work with pre-job-seeking groups of people in any capacity have the most accurate resources and recommendations available; and Make sure people who are exposed to those programs are stepping in with a “growth mindset” attitude toward work from a way earlier starting point. Easier said than done. https://lnkd.in/e28GKNyQ #jobs #fractionalwork #journalism #work