Editing jobs plentiful, newspapers need fresh look

When I think of my future career in journalism, I usually think of an uphill struggle. I hear how newspaper readership is declining and viewers don't trust local news stations. It appears that jobs in journalism are few and far between, but according to "The Art of Editing" by Brian S. Brooks and James L. Pinson, "Editing jobs are so plentiful, in fact, that companies are often willing to pay editors a higher salary than writers." I was under the impression that if a reporting job is hard to come by, so is an editing job. However, since media is converging it only makes sense that new jobs are being created for editors. "Convergence is creating a demand for a new type of editor, one as capable of handling a magazine or newspaper story as editing video and the words that accompany it," said Brooks and Pinson.

I agree with the idea that the younger generation is bored by newspapers and needs a fresh way of learning information. Brooks and Pinson describe a University of Missouri research project where a student says, "It can't be way cool. It's a newspaper." Children today are more keen to watch television and play video games than read a book or play outside. Similarly, they will want to gather news in the same way. I think it's quite sad that newspaper sales are declining. I'd rather get my information from print media than the Internet. Digital newspapers may be the print newspapers of tomorrow, and those in the media industry have no choice but to keep up with the trends.

Journalism student to learn editing skills

My name is Jennifer Profitt and I'm a journalism/political science double major. I've been working for the University of Michigan-Flint's campus newspaper, The Michigan Times, for roughly one year. When I first started writing for the M-Times I wasn't interested in hard news stories or politics. I wanted to cover campus theater and music. Eventually, my ambitions changed and I began covering the Student Government Council. I've been on the SGC beat for one semester so far, and it's proved to be a good place to find stories, though they're not always earth-shattering.

My path to journalism wasn't what one might call traditional. I've always loved the English language. I wrote essays with ease and rarely made grammar mistakes. I also have a passion for theater and performing which, unfortunately, doesn't lead to much of a career. I combined my love of English and performing and voila! Before long, I changed my major to journalism and I'm now an aspiring television reporter. I've taken several journalism classes and worked for the M-Times but I haven't had a solid chance to try my hand at editing. It intrigues me, and the more I look into working at the M-Times as an editor, the more I like the idea. I can't imagine a class that could prepare me more for such an opportunity as this class.

I'm looking forward to learning the other side of working for a newspaper. It's one thing to write a piece but quite another to edit that same piece. I've had limited experience editing newspaper material or laying out newspaper designs, but I'd love to learn exactly how it's done. I'm not at all familiar with editing/design programs, so this should be an excellent opportunity to expand my knowledge.