If you want some top tips for the best student newspaper experience possible, you’ll want to head over to the always excellent blog of Suzanne Yada, who has published a cracking list of the very best advice, whether you’re a writer, editor, sub or whatever.

This advice is actually the result of being interviewed by Rachel Kanigel for the forthcoming update to The Student Newspaper Survival Guide, which I recommended as a great resource the other day. Yada knows her stuff; check out her blog for plenty of interesting bits and pieces.

Posted by Dave Molloy in •Journalism
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I went to an interview recently for an online journalism position. This was actually the third interview, and I was meeting the top brass, so to speak. Then, it happened. I was asked about my blog.

More specifically, I was asked what I was writing lately, since I finished up my full-time commitments elsewhere. I talked a little about the freelance work and my clients, and thought I had handled the question well. My tech-savvy interviewer, however, looked at me and said:

Well, with the explosion of the internet, the definition of what constitutes publishing has changed. There’s nothing stopping you from writing every day. Do you have a blog or anything like that?

Well, colour me surprised. I honestly thought this would never come up in an actual real-world physical interview. I explained that yes, I did, though it had recently come through a period of not being updated. I had, in fact, just finished redesigning the blog from scratch, and would be looking to write a lot more from here on out. That didn’t impress.

I missed out on the position in the end, and I doubt a blog or lack thereof was the deciding factor. I’m just surprised that the interviewer in question brought it up. And I missed an opportunity there to talk about the highly interesting, regularly updated home of my daily writing. Food for thought, folks.

(I was also asked this question about ten times yesterday at a “creatives” discussion forum, but that’s less surprising).

Posted by Dave Molloy in •Business •Journalism •Tech
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Is it just me, or do newspapers consistently fail to tell us why they’re important? All the advertising I see these days (that isn’t just a quick plug about a free DVD in tomorrow’s paper) seems to emphasise the choice and diversity available to the reader. Surely it’s time for struggling papers to emphasise the core value they offer instead?

The Sunday Times is “for all you are” and has some (admittedly great) ads like this one featuring a paperboy emphasising the diversity of their content. But with this form of publishing in direct competition with the infinitely diverse web browser, surely there’s more sense in talking about their extensive resources and (supposed) impartiality?

I recently came across this wonderful old advert for the Guardian which tells me it’s an independent newspaper with the resources to get to the truth that might not be easy to find. And it’s so much more effective than anything I’ve seen recently.

Does anyone know of any recent campaigns that remind the public of these kind of values?

Posted by Dave Molloy in •Business •Journalism
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There’s a notion amongst journos who are good at what they do that every prospective reporter should be born with some sort of heaven-sent ability to write a story in perfect inverted pyramid form. Baloney. As anyone who’s spent time as a section editor for a college paper knows, first-year students getting stuck in to writing for the first time need to be shown the ropes.

Not every university that has a college paper has a journalism course or school of media. Mine didn’t, but I was lucky enough to be educated by a smart and savvy team in a student paper which has been around for over 50 years. For those less fortunate, there’s plenty of material out there to teach those who need to teach themselves. Whether you’re an incoming news editor who needs to train reporters for the first time, or someone who has inherited the Editor’s position and wants to brush up on some skills, these are some resources which have helped me out over the years.

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