Journalism

Case Studies on the Different Types of Journalism

Including tips on how you can make it happen!

Investigative Journalist

Rafael Epstein – Investigative journalist (THE AGE):

How Rafael started:  

1.  He saw a career counselor and they suggested journalism
2.  He was rejected twice from RMIT and instead completed a Science Degree and most of an Arts degree at Melbourne University. He was unorganized and submitted most of his work late. He also worked for the local Australia Israel Review when he was at university
3.  He applied for a cadetship at the ABC (1000 other people applied) but he knew a bit about the person sorting the CV’s and how to approach him. He wrote a brightly colored cover letter (which he feels was ashamedly arrogant in hindsight), however it seemed to work with this particular recruiter. He had a very limited folio to take, except for 2 radio shows from RRR, some uni articles and some unpaid contributions to a small magazine. Despite this he received the cadetship and stayed with the ABC for more than fifteen years. There he worked on differing stories and obtained very diverse experience from working in Europe, The Middle East, East Timor, Indonesia, the 2006 World Cup in Soccer and the Federal Election in Australia in 1998. He is now an established investigative journalist after working on several breaking stories (including reports on the gangland wars in Melbourne and the Mohammed Haneef case) and currently works for The Age. 

•  Is Investigative Journalism dying? Rafael says: “No, certainly not with The Age or ABC. The Age added Rafael into their team of 3 without having a position available and the Sydney Morning Herald have at least 3 or 4 ongoing investigative journalists.”  And Louise Connor from MEAA pointed out that it is often the world news or investigative journalism stories that win the Walkleys, but as Rafael states, “this is a bad motivation to seek a story!”  But it is a great reward for all your hard work, so see if you can make it happen.

•  Tips for breaking stories, is to closely read transcripts and find facts that have differences or faults in them, which can be your points to address. Pick your areas of interest and set up processes to enable you to find breaking stories in those areas i.e. press releases. Stay informed on issues and find when ‘facts’ are differing. “You sometimes need to speak with lots of people and it may lead to nothing” and if you have a story make sure you get it out anywhere you can, radio, your blog, send it to someone you know in the industry.

Reporters at Mainstream Media Sources

Another method in which journalists can earn money is to apply for jobs with a news agency. One of the skills a journalist must have is the ability to pick out an interesting story, which will capture viewer’s attention. The other main skill needed is the ability to tell the story well. If both of these skills are met to a high standard and evident there is a higher chance of getting a paid journalist job.

Hong Kong’s journalism standards are similar to the Australian standards in the sense that the industry in both cultures require multi skilled journalists who can write, source stories, film, edit and get the job done to a high level. Both representatives from Hong Kong (Ed Li, Billy Clarke) and Australia (The Age, Herald Sun, Nine Msn and ABC) agree that it helps to get one foot in the door by finding work even if it means writing what you don’t know about. Building up your portfolio is the key. 

However, to help survive as a journalist in Hong Kong Ed Li advised it would be a good idea to learn Mandarin instead of Cantonese (the more common Chinese dialect in Hong Kong) as it would be a good job prospect. More mainlanders are moving in from China and Mandarin will be spoken more frequently. Also, Hong Kong is no longer under a British Colony as of 1997 and is currently under China, which is another reason to learn Mandarin.  

We gathered some general information at our attendance at the MediaPass Student Industry in May 2010 which the Walkley Foundation in conjunction with the The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance and Media Super hold annually. A complete list of our Tips and Tricks that we picked up here and elsewhere can be reviewed in our Tips and Tricks for becoming a prominent journalist section in this report.  However the critical points made in assisting you to gain employment as a reporter were: the need to gain work experience NOW, the push to get your work published anywhere that you can to build your portfolio, the acknowledgment that you will need to do unpaid work to get your foot in the door and the need to network and make contacts that will lead to employment opportunities. It varies considerably in how today’s journalists started, and it is a very changing landscape in the industry currently, however, it is probably more important than ever to realise that you cannot be picky about where you start out and what your first paid or unpaid role is, as if you work hard and show initiative by finding stories (small and large), it will lead to more work. Be persistent and resilient, as you will get rejected several times (sorry it’s a fact!) and you most probably will not find a paid reporting role straight out of university, but if you want it you can defiantly make it happen by following our complete steps in our Tips and Tricks Section.

Below are some brief case studies on how 3 current reporters with mainstream media companies started as reporters:

David Hastie, Herald Sun Journalist

How he started:

•  He tried 3 times for a cadetship and finally received one at The Herald Sun. Following this period a job opened in the Real Estate section. He did not know very much but believes you learn more in one week at a paper than 3 years at university. Last year he worked in a position at the New York Post, as a reward for his ‘Young Journalist of the Year’ News award in 2008.   

Ninemsn Reporter: Jay Savage

How he started:

• Jay completed a media degree at Melbourne Uni

• He didn’t get much work published (as he wasn’t motivated towards Journalism then)

•  He then got a break with an internship in Beijing as a copy editor for China Daily. This allowed him to work with lots of other journalists and learn tips and tricks from them. This also opened up connections with other colleagues and increased his motivation towards Journalism. He also gained a list of contacts for publishing work and started writing small articles such as reviews and cultural articles. This improved his writing skills massively. He then moved back to Melbourne and started sending out his CV. He received no responses and realized he had to do more than send out CV’s as everyone does this. His advice is to get a list of contacts, get to know the key names and pester them to show your commitment. 6 cadetships were open at Ninemsn and his was lucky to get one of them. This meant he had to move to Sydney, which was hard on intern wages but he worked hard and is now back in Melbourne on non-cadet wages.

Jesse Hogan, AGE Sports Reporter

How he started:

•  Jesse tried lots of things on his path to being a sports journo 

•  Did lots of unpaid work for uni newspapers, radio news and covered local games for community papers (in the Leader Group). Did get any money but build a good profile 

•  Received an online internship at The Age, he then worked his way up through a company and is a permanent sports reporter now. 

Freelance Journalism

Jason Whittaker, Deputy Editor Crikey and freelance journalist

“I got my job at Crikey because I nagged the powers that be to the point of annoyance. But also because they knew me. I existed in this sphere of media influence that is quickly developing online. They might have followed me on Twitter, they might have read my blog, they might have seen the online publications I was writing for; they saw me engaging with their products and participating in their community. I simply wouldn’t have got the job without it.” Jason’s personal blog

Alison Aprhys, Freelance Journalist

http://www.shewrites.com.au/ 

See Alison’s website for a description of her experience and writing.

The below tips on being a Freelancer can be found on a great site Upstart in an article written by Sharon Green who is a Melbourne-based freelance journalist. Follow Sharon on twitter: @sharonjgreen (Her MediaPass topic tweets can be found under #mediapass).

Alison Aprhys is a leading freelance journalist in Australia and specialises in surf reporting and photography. She highlighted the importance of turning down unpaid work as it lowers the standard and expectations of publications willing to take on freelance writing. But isn’t this a catch for students starting out in the industry who need to build a portfolio of published work? Still, she argues that it is best to seek paid work as this will position you as more professional in the freelance domain and discourage undercutting across the industry. She also encouraged getting in-house experience or a staff role when starting out to obtain valuable training and the opportunity to work with some valuable people.  This can then act as a springboard into freelancing, as you would’ve already established a network of key contacts.

Tips for freelancing:

• When pitching to a publication, know their production schedule. Don’t contact them while they’re on deadline
• Be charming and persistent
• Don’t burn bridges with people – even if you don’t like them. You never know when they might be in a position to help you out or offer you work
• Self-promotion is key. Having social media to do this can be very powerful
• Offer something to the editor when making a pitch, e.g. your impressive list of contacts, ability to deliver before deadline etc.
• Show that you have guts and take risks. Try something different.

To find out more about Alison, visit her site.  

David Hastie comments:  To be a freelancer is hard: you need a reputation but need to earn a living too – so you need to get published, get a name out then think about being a freelance writer. You also need to focus on a specific area and niche subject such as the environment or business. Also it is worth noting that the Real Estate lift-out at The Herald Sun only use freelance writers now due to the decreased numbers in full-time staff. However, it is the freelancers that are first to go in down times in the economy so be prepared for this. Also David suggested that TV was easier to start as a freelancer than print media, such as the sports report on a Sunday night.

Television Reporter and Producer

Belinda Hawkins, reporter and producer, Australian Story

How Belinda started on Australian Story

• She was a high school teacher and then took an internship with SBS. She traveled the world as a reporter for 10 years. She loved Australian Story and sent some of her work to the Producer, which she heard nothing in response for some time. She emailed every four months and finally she received a job offer, which was for a freelancer on a short-term contract. As she was on a permanent contract at SBS she had to decline, through fear of having only a short term contract in this industry. After some further time, she was offered a 6-month contract and Belinda decided to take a chance and accept it. She has now been with Australian Story for several years.

Stephen Quinn’s Summary

Journalist with some of the world's premier media organizations in 5 countries between 1975 and 1995. Journalism teacher in 5 countries since 1996. Have written 14 books and 3 training manuals since 1997. Multi-media journalism consultant for Innovations International (HQ in Pamplona, Spain) and WAN-Ifra (HQ in Darmstadt, Germany and Paris, France). Member international committee of Online News Association. My professional role is to help journalists understand and use digital media to do better journalism, and ultimately serve society better.

Stephen Quinn’s Specialties:

New (now) media: multi-media journalism; mobile journalism; online media; convergent journalism. Have written 5 books and scores of articles about convergence and now media since 2004. A book about new business models to pay for journalism, written with Jeff Kaye, should be available in early 2010. A book about mobile journalism (Mojo: Mobile Journalism in the Asian Region) appeared late 2009.

Additional Information

The below information from Stephen Quinn, on being a Mojo was discussed in The annual MediaPass Student Industry Day which Walkley Foundation in conjunction with the The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance held in Melbourne in May 2010. These workshops were held across Australia each year.

The following is from Sharon Green’s article on the Media Pass day:

As mobile phones, laptops and digital appliances become more commonplace a journalist can now report and log a story live from the scene. The session looked at tools that journalists will need in order to produce work across different media platforms and how the mobile phone will be playing an increasing role.

The demand for the mobile journalist has emerged with technology. Gone are the days where a journalist can sit in an office and log stories. The future of news will mean that journalists need to be where the story is happening. Associate Professor Stephen Quinn has written a book on the practice of mobile journalism and a free copy can be downloaded online:

http://www.vericorder.com/

http://qik.com/

http://www.soundslides.com/

The rise of social media also allows reporters to disseminate information quickly to an audience and will increasingly play a role in how we communicate news. Stephen Quinn is heavily involved in social media research and believes that having social media is a good way to build your brand and is a powerful way to do some self-promotion. He also emphasised the importance of having a blog that can double as a marketing tool and offer an online location for your portfolio. This makes it easy for prospective employers to visit one location on the web where they can get a clear idea on where you want to position yourself as a journalist. See Stephen Quinn’s blog

In both Hong Kong and Australia, one of the primary ways a journalist can make money is to have an online presence. If a blog can be maintained with a big enough follower base, advertisers may sponsor your site, which is one way of earning an income (as seen with Jeff Jarvis below). Keeping a blog is like keeping a portfolio as it is recognised as a publishing tool. It is a body of your personal work, thoughts, ideas and stories, which represent your style and give viewers a good sense of what your capable of. Representatives from The Age, Nine Msn, Herald Sun, ABC, Off key productions and the South China Morning Post all agreed that a blog is a good idea and part of the key to becoming a paid journalist. Ed Lee states

You have to be willing to start from the bottom, and in most cases, write about things you have no interest in. Unless you're amazingly gifted, you'll need to write a lot for reputable publications to start making a decent amount of money.

Jeff Jarvis is a great example of how to use social media effectively. He is a media commentator, media adviser and paid blogger (last year he made $20 000 US from advertising on his blog). Why?

He is knowledgeable on his chosen subject, - (you need to find your own niche market) He is energetic, markets himself effectively and writes a minimum 2 blogs per day.

Look at his Twitter where he has 43, 029 followers and his tweets which occassionally market his books.  Of course, you don’t always do this, it will become boring you also need to Retweet interesting comments/articles that you read, post videos, links and other information from yourself and others. Build your community of contacts and followers effectively.

Jess McGuire, is a blogger on Defamer, which is a pop culture blog. This came after she started her OzCulture blog she set up herself.  She started get attention by writing about ‘Big Brother’ when all of the production company from the show was reading it. When she was writing about the infamous ‘Turkey Slap’…and BB shut all their chat sites down so a lot of people went to her site to read about the incident. Since this she was offered a job writing blogs for Defamer and the benefits highlighted by Jess were the fact that she is paid per post, she can work from home and she has delayed publishing rights so she can write a post and have it published the next day and she gets bonuses for ‘hits’. Some other points that Jess made were:

•   Twitter is the only social networking site that works for her
• She gets hits because she sends out stuff all day that links back to her site, which she makes money from because she gets more hits and the advertisers pay her more
• She writes about ‘hot issues’ i.e. Kyle and JackeO / Master Chef etc which gets 6 million hits
• How does she write? She writes the way she thinks. She believes her first writing on the “archived crap on Oz Culture is bad”. She started by writing for 3 years solid every day and through this process she found her individual voice, which makes her writing attractive to employers

TIPS: write how you think and talk / this brings people back / if people like you or hate you – they will come back / practice writing / Mariek Hardy has been writing since she was 14 – she was never trained / and Jess says that maintaining a blog is the best training you can get – it creates a disciplined approach, summarizing clear, succinct thoughts / analyse media sites/news sites: find angle or funny spin on ‘current events’
• Jess’s gossip writing differs from Perez Hilton’s blog who is the biggest blogger in the world and makes tons of money heckling people and outing people. However it is reported that Perez has at least one ghostwriter that helps out. Jess has a different voice and does not hurtfully gossip about people / her readers appreciate her piss taking without making derogatory commentary
• Copyright issues? (Money ends up coming from Murdoch) so have to be careful /have accounts with photo places / find pictures can use / can download thumbnails 150 x 150 pixels can use without copyright / if steal image: need to credit it and provide link? /
• Other considerations: Jess likes long titles that are funny / but you need short titles that attract people and make them click / you need RSS feeds / tags / and linking within your own blog – to previous blogs on the same or different subjects = more hits /you also need to link to referenced material /

• Diablo Cody’s blog (Juno/United States of Tara) is a good example and you can see where it can lead some people!

As many journalists are starting to do, particularly freelance journalists, starting your own business to forge your own career in journalism is a viable option. Stephen Quinn suggests that this could be done with 3-4 other people which have different skills and which allow you to share the costs of equipment. This can also be done relatively cheaply now with the array of social media applications available which allow you to set up an online presence, publish your portfolios and network with potential clients all for free! So if none of the above options appeal to you upon graduation, look into starting your own company, by following our SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS and start publishing and selling your own breaking news stories, photography, magazine articles or journal reports yourself!