Mini-internship opportunity for Fall '08

The Society for Professional Journalists is looking for 12 interns to cover its upcoming annual convention in Atlanta. The interns -- reporters, photographers and designers -- will "staff The Working Press, a daily tabloid newspaper that covers the SPJ National Convention." Professional journalists oversee the publication and provide editing and feedback. It's a great way for college students to quickly get lots of work samples.

This year's convention is set for Sept. 4-6 in Atlanta. Interns will need to arrive in Atlanta by noon Wednesday, Sept. 3, and the internship ends Sunday, Sept. 7. Accommodations, mentoring and other perks will be provided. The application deadline is April 19.


-Mark Grabowski

Advice from Joe Grimm

I recently e-mailed Joe Grimm and asked him if he had any advice for college journalists. He responded with a couple tips:

• "I always advise time-starved students to turn the writing they have to do for classwork into byline opportunities. Double-purposing this way saves time, it can bring clips, perhaps some money and a better grade. Look in 'Writer's Market' to discover a magazine that might buy a variation of that class assignment."

• "Every college town is loaded with publications. Study them. Treat them as directories of writing opportunities and as sources of stories you can write for out-of-town publications. Smart journalists are always pitching stories that they have access to for distant publications."

Joe Grimm recruits for the Detroit Free Press and this year published "Breaking In: The www.jobspage.com Guide to Newspaper Internships." For more advice, visit newsrecruiter.com.

-Mark Grabowski

The 8th way to get bylines

Quill recently ran a story on "Seven Strategies for Getting Bylines," which I wrote. There are actually eight ways to get bylines, but one got edited out:

Study abroad.

Help out in a newspaper’s foreign bureau. Or look into writing for English publications in the foreign country.

“While the crunch on foreign news budgets may limit the amount of staff correspondent posts available, it presents a golden opportunity for upstart journalists,” said Jason Motlagh, a freelancer who’s reported from West Africa, the Caucasus and Haiti. “I’ve met many other full-time reporters who broke in simply by showing up at a far-flung bureau and asking to lend a hand.”

Sorry about the deletion, Jason -- you know how editors can be.

I'm sure y'all can think of more strategies for getting bylines. Please share your ideas in the comments section below.

-Professor Mark Grabowski

Seven ways to get bylines

Don’t wait until you’re hired as a reporter to start acting like one.

Getting articles published is vital to landing a reporting job. Most editors want to see four to six — and sometimes many more — samples of your work.

“It shows much more to those hiring that you’re ambitious about being published, rather than having a resume with a college term paper that never was published attached to it,” said Joe Hight, managing editor of The Oklahoman. “And I can tell you it’s a lot more exciting to see your byline in a publication than the grade that you’ll receive for the term paper.”

While in school, develop a portfolio of good clips that demonstrates your journalism skills. Visit my journalism website to find out how to get bylines.

-Mark Grabowski