We all need a little help
Finding journalism jobs and navigating newsrooms
This is a free edition of “PRESS AHEAD,” a newsletter and community about finding journalism jobs and navigating newsrooms. Sign up here to get future newsletter editions in your inbox and to access the archive.
Here we are, spring 2022. Everything has changed, nothing has changed.
New J-school grads are looking for their first “real” jobs, and established journalists are navigating their newsroom careers amid constant upheaval.
Two recent conversations I had — one with a journalism student and another with an established investigative reporter — struck me as fundamentally similar to chats I’ve had for years with other journalists, no matter what the era or circumstances. The two were asking:
What are practical things I can do to set up for success?
How can I find a role that best fits my talents?
How do I prepare for what’s on the horizon in the news industry?
What’s advice for just mentally slogging through some painful uncertainty?
One person at the beginning of her career and the other a couple of decades deep into a career, but both were struggling with the great unknown: the future of their work.
The idea for this newsletter was born.
This project aims to help students looking for their first job as well as established journalists navigating their newsroom careers. We want to offer, share and solicit practical and concrete action. I love a good inspirational platitude but we’ll ignore those in favor of pragmatism.
The newsletter draws on hard lessons I learned myself in almost 20 years at CNN Digital, common questions/solutions in the classroom where I now teach journalism, advice from some leaders in the news industry and inspiration from around the digital sphere.
And maybe some funny gifs. Because internet + journalism + cats = nirvana world peace
Let’s all press ahead in 2022.
Thanks,
Amy