From Matt Anderson, a hopeful young journalist:
To whom it may concern:
My name is Matt Anderson and I am a freshman at the University of Puget Sound. I am also the News Editor of the University’s newspaper, The Trail, as well as a monthly columnist for The News Tribune, Tacoma’s local daily.
I was hoping that it would be possible for me to come into The Stranger‘s offices for a day to shadow a reporter, designer or an editor…. I am very interested in going into journalism as a career field and was hoping to see what it was like to work at an alternative weekly.
If this is possible, please let me know.
Thank you.
From me, to The Stranger‘s editorial staff:
Is anyone willing to be shadowed? It seems so boring as to be cruel (for both parties, I suppose).
From Mr. Mudede:
in this economy, jobs are already shadows.
(Mr. Anderson is now contemplating an unpaid internship with us [boring AND ongoing!] and, presumably, his career path.)
The New New Journalism is been writ daily by Wal*Mart workers with Linux netbooks.
Everyone into the rice paddies… intellectuals, teachers, professionals…peasants are the story…no more pandering to Wall Street.
You didn’t just dash his dreams, you feasted upon his dream’s innards in a blood-ritual akin to a 1-hour shoe sale at Nordstrom Rack
I like how you raped his dreams of journalism.
Hey, are you guys still bitching that newspapers are failing all over the country?
Boy, that’s depressing. And just think, there are literally thousands of other journalism majors out there in exactly his position.
The economy will (eventually) get better. The prospects for a career in journalism, however, will only get worse.
I disagree with other commenters. Knowing how to think and write about news for a daily institution will still be a valuable skillset long after woodpulp papers are gone. As a freshman, he’s still young enough to take what he’ll learn and flip it for maximum profit on the internet. Go get ’em, tiger.
Did you forward Mudede’s response to the young man? THAT would make this so much more depressing.
Why do I picture Mudede as that beatnik poet in the 60s with a drum talking about existentialism ?
Will The Stranger still be considered an “alternative weekly” when it’s the only paper left in Seattle?
The Trail is such a piece of shit. I say this with confidence.
UPS, on the other hand, was a fine school and it treated me well.
I’ve found that being shadowed is a lot of fun, especially if you really click with the person interested in your field.
Try not being so morose.
Oh, the Trail, I worked on the Trail when I went to UPS. Such happy memories. The drinking. The steamy make out sessions. The hot tub games. Oh, and sometimes we put out a paper too.
I thought I wanted to go into journalism. Instead I stumbled into a job in high tech that actually paid a reasonable amount of money and have never looked back.
Who pays your bills when you do an unpaid internship? Generally. Or specifically, since a lot of you Stranger people used to be interns there.
@12: Really. Can only rich kids be interns?
Internships only for rich kids? No. You save up beforehand. You make sacrifices, you borrow, and you get by with the hope that this opportunity will really pay off in the long run.
and it does.
To get some brand-name companies and experience on your resume DECADES before you deserve to be able to name drop them is pa-rice-less.
I wouldn’t really want the Stranger on my resume, but you get my point
Our internships are usually only eight or 10 hours a week, so they have time to work paid jobs as well (or go to school—our Mr. Pickus is a Husky). BTW, I contacted Mr. Anderson before posting this and he was an excellent sport about it.
Not all internships are only 8 hours. The ones I had were 20, but if you find the right one you’re gonna want to be there every minute of the day.
There are national ones you can score that are full time
Depends. I interned at an “alt.weekly” back in The Day, and I worked 40-hour weeks. Plus, they paid me per byline — which incited me to write a ton. I ended up breaking even. Remarkably, that paper has, as well.
Having once been the Editor in Chief of The Trail, I beg you, let this man in. The Trail and UPS are in dire need of focus. There is no formal journalism program, or any other real support for aspiring journalists there. The advice, if any, comes piecemeal from the few burnt out, muttering seniors who have weathered four years (often under dubious, self-righteous leadership). Very little is retained in the small circle of journalism that exists, and as a result the paper continually does poorly, with maybe a good year every now and then.
They need all the help they can get.
PopTart what year did you graduate?
Does UW have a J school? Is there a journalism school in the Pacific Northwest?
As a UPS grad, I can say this frosh is almost certainly a rich kid. Easy to say, as the vast majority are rich kids. And by “rich”, I don’t mean, “doesn’t need scholarships or fin aid”, but rather, “will never have to scrounge the laundry room for change to buy a blue book for a mid-term”. Ask him which frats he intends to pledge. I he says anything other than “I hate frats”, he’s rich kid.
He will spend most of his time trying to score weed from the staff, making new “connections”. He will constantly praise Dan Savage to the point that his sexual preference will be questioned. He will quickly change his major when he sees how Stranger staff live on Ramen & govt cheese.
The Trail is a bit of a joke, like the papers at most rich kid schools. They’ll strike gold occasionally, but you’ll find later it was a wire service story.
Before you reject Young Master Anderson, check up on his dad. He may be a big share holder in Village Voice!