5 tips for young journalists from J-School grads

By Ryan Levi

Wikimedia Commons image from user Mojourcomm

As part of my extensive summer reading list (highlights so far include Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams), I took a look through our Letters Home series, a collection of letters from J-School graduates to students currently studying at the finest journalism school in the world. Below are five big-picture takeaways from their letters.

Letters Home: Bart Bedsole

Bart Bedsole is an anchor for KZTV in Corpus Christi,
Texas. He graduated from the Missouri School of
Journalism in 2000 with a degree in broadcast
journalism.

The following letter was submitted June 22, 2012

DEAR MYSELF AT AGE 20...

Be very thankful. You are among the final generations of young broadcast news reporters that will graduate to find a job that provides a decent salary and a photographer to work with. Ten years from now, people hired for the same position will be required to shoot their own stories, as well as post it all online in more places than you can imagine, and you will do it all for less money.

Don't rush to move on to higher markets or positions, because happiness and success can be found anywhere.

Spend more time on your writing and less building your resume tape. Your coworkers will respect you more for it.