Q. I'm eight months into my second job, doing government and catch-all reporting for a small daily close to a major metro area.
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A
few days ago, I applied for a job as a news assistant with a national
paper's bureau. The post claimed the job will be mostly writing but
will certainly include administrative and "gopher" work.
Is
it better to stay in my current market (30,000 circulation) and keep
reporting full time or to jump ship to a national paper where I'll
write briefs and make coffee? Would the opportunity to network with
top-notch writers and editors and possibly move up in a larger company
outweigh the chance to write several stories every day and build
industrial-grade journalism skills?
Lost in LancasterA. Be careful.
A lot of people have found jobs like this to be velvet coffins.
They don't get to do what they want, they won't get promoted and they can't afford to move back to reporting.
So,
before you make a decision, do your reporting. Talk to people who are
in the job and those who have left it. Pay attention especially to
those whose aspirations mirror your own.
If there is a chance for advancement, you may be on to something.
Coming Tuesday:
Going into her second year as a reporter, she has some fundamental
questions about doing her job as a beat reporter -- and editors who
don't want to hear about it.
