A young friend of mine recently lost his journalism job. He's smart, he's dogged, he's talented—and I'm not entirely sure what to tell him. So I enlisted some friends ...
This is incredibly generous of you and your network of heavy hitters. If I had to add anything in this particular "climate," I'd find an underserved audience and go serve them. Start a Substack.
That could mean something that's not as ego stroking as covering the Red Sox or SCOTUS, but if you're covering the hell out of local high schools in an area that dumped its local sports coverage, parents WILL pay for that shit. If you pick yourself as the watch dog of your city's council, people will pay for that.
And you're building a greater body of work, far more valuable than a resume, which is rock beating scissors all the way.
I’m a 23-year-old journalist. Had to get a part-time reporting gig out of college. Finally got hired full-time mid-March, and then was promptly laid off in mid-May. It’s a weird time to be getting started in this biz!
Also, Jen A. Miller, a six-figure freelance writer, has a $10 ebook called "Freelance Writing for Laid-Off Journalists (and those who want to quit). Very tactical, can be read in an hour, and can help a writer know what opportunities are out there for people will the skills. I don't get any commissions, just an honest rec. https://jenamiller.ck.page/products/laidoff
This is incredibly generous of you and your network of heavy hitters. If I had to add anything in this particular "climate," I'd find an underserved audience and go serve them. Start a Substack.
That could mean something that's not as ego stroking as covering the Red Sox or SCOTUS, but if you're covering the hell out of local high schools in an area that dumped its local sports coverage, parents WILL pay for that shit. If you pick yourself as the watch dog of your city's council, people will pay for that.
And you're building a greater body of work, far more valuable than a resume, which is rock beating scissors all the way.
Anyway ... my two cents!
Not making it easy to quit twitter when you keep posting interesting links from... twitter
I’m a 23-year-old journalist. Had to get a part-time reporting gig out of college. Finally got hired full-time mid-March, and then was promptly laid off in mid-May. It’s a weird time to be getting started in this biz!
Also, Jen A. Miller, a six-figure freelance writer, has a $10 ebook called "Freelance Writing for Laid-Off Journalists (and those who want to quit). Very tactical, can be read in an hour, and can help a writer know what opportunities are out there for people will the skills. I don't get any commissions, just an honest rec. https://jenamiller.ck.page/products/laidoff