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anyone written for magazines or newspapers?

R

Rexmonster

Bluelighter
Joined
Apr 23, 2004
Messages
47
Location
Nor Cal
Anyone ever written for any newspapers or chill magazines? I'm a beginning journalist and I would like to chat it up with some journalistically inclined bluelighters.
 
Yep, I spent about 10 years working both full and part time for various football magazines and newspapers.........what sort of info are you after?
 
Rex has posted questions but it seems he has hit "new thread" instead of "reply".... easy mistake to make.

Rex, would you like to try re-posting those questions in here?
 
(Not an idiot)

Ahh, I see... *drools on self in partially retarded stupor*
This posting shit is complex man... (not really)
thanks for the help though.

Yeah, basically, I just want to chat it up and discuss all sorts of shit related to the field. Did you get a degree, what have you written for, what are your favorite mags/papers, any favorite writers, do you still work in the field, are you into traditional or "new age" journalism, ex. ex.

Me: I'm 18 y/o male from Nor Cal, interested in a journalism degree, I was a court/sports/local news photographer/reporter for the Samoa Observer (my only real writing job to date, I also have a deal with a shitty foreign mag and have done an article for a college paper,) Trying to write for Filter mag (I know it sucks but my GF works there...), my favorite journalists are Tom Wolfe, Hunter Thompson and Gary Webb, I like writing about music, politics, counter culture, boxing and random shit. I both loathe and desire to work in major media and my goal is to be a sucessfull freelance writer (for now.)
 
goldenbrown, if you want to know who he is, take it to private message please... only on-topic replies need be posted in the thread.
 
Hey Rexmonster. I'm a journalist (BA Proff. Writing & Media Studies). I worked on a newspaper for 4 years (1996-2000), then I sold advertising for a bit and now I'm in Public Relations.

But for the last few years I've also been freelancing for magazines - mainly health titles, but a few travel and lifestyle stories here and there too.

It's a great career but difficult to make money in unless you're in the marketing arena.... which was the reason I moved into PR. I still miss the "creative" side though, so freelancing helps that urge ;) What did you want to know?
 
Ah, just read your last post. How to break into the industry... well, that's the million dollar question isn't it.

It's tough. I won't lie to you. I applied for heaps of jobs in the city after I finished my degree, with no luck, so I ended up having to go home to Shepparton (my hometown) and get a job on the local newspaper there. I'd recommend local newspapers actually - they're a great training ground, perhaps better than the metro publications, because you're very hands-on in every area, rather than starting at the bottom and making coffee for 2 years.

Even when I went for the local job, I still had to go through 3 interviews - the last of which was an on-the-spot writing test. I had work experience at that newspaper and knew people there, which counted as well. But it was MUCH tougher than I'd ever, ever anticipated. I can only imagine the competition for city jobs. :\

Freelancing was a stroke of luck really. I'd started doing PR, so I was talking to magazine editors on a weekly basis... I was feeling really creatively unfulfilled writing product press releases (how many times can you sing the praises of eucalyptus laundry detergent?!?), so I just took a punt and on the phone one day, I asked one of the editors if there was any writing work going. As it happened she'd just had a freelancer pull out of doing a story and needed someone to write a travel article quickly. So I did it... LOL... I had to phone this resort in Queensland and ask them a bunch of questions, look at their website, and write the story as if I'd actually stayed there for a week. (so much for perks 8) )

Well she loved the story and commissioned me to write more. That was a huge cash cow, because I was being paid 50cents a word (AUS) - around $1000 for an average article. Not bad. But the magazine went bust and I haven't gathered the courage to approach any others yet. All in all I think I've done about 8 or 10 freelance magazine articles.

Basically, my advice to you is: get work experience wherever possible. The media is a very, very, close-knit community, and they like to hire people they KNOW. That's probably why that editor gave me the freelance gig without seeing my work. She was already familiar with me. Secondly, be prepared to relocate to a country area if you can possibly handle it - that's where the good 'startup' jobs are. You can always move back to the city later.

Don't take knock backs personally. You'll get many.

And finally, never lose faith in your gift. You're the only one who has your own, unique perspective on the world. No matter how many brilliant writers there are out there, there is only *one* you. If you think for a moment "I can't do it", there will be a hundred people lining up behind you who think they can. It's bullshit, you most certainly can do it. Those little validations are what you live for, and they'll come, if you never lose faith in yourself. Keep your own voice.

That's all from me!
 
Brilliant advice as always SLM..........You really are a legend.

Well for me it was a little different.

I happenned to be involved heavily in elite junior football here in Australia and I used to read all the local football mags and newspapers.

One of them happenned to have a juniors page but it only lasted a year.........so i wrote to the editor and said how dissapointed i was and that if they were interested then i was prepared to write some stuff for them.........I never thought about the money side of things at that stage.

I also provided them with a heap of ideas such as providing them with crossword puzzles and quizes and the like.

Was invited in for an interview which turned out to be more of a get to know ya and how it all works type thing.......was asked to write a short 12 par column each week and it grew from there.

The biggest shock was when I recieved a $100 cheque in the mail.........I didnt ask nor expect to be paid.........how good was that.

After about 2-3 years of that, my column increased to a whole page and evenyually i was invited to work full time for a new juniors only paper. i was the main reporter and i loved it for about 4 years or so and also started doing stuff about the first graders and also National teams etc.

Was lucky enough to meet and dine with Pele and many other of the worlds great players and people...........Football wise that is.

My own life had started to change a bit and i wanted to start earning some bigger dollars so i stopped doing it fulltime and started another enterprise but kept it part time until the magazine i was with at the time was taken over and the new owners were not prepared to pay what i was used to getting so i left.

I enjoyed meeting a lot of people that I guess not many had access to and it taught me a lot about life and how we really are all exactly the same..........no matter who you are.......from David beckham to Harry kewell to Joe Bloggs down the street........anyways thats another story.

I had no formal training.........just a fair understanding of the english language and an excellent understanding of my topics and i always did heaps of research..........plus I was never scared to ask questions and be prepared to learn from others.

Hope that helps..........I guess you just need to look for an opportunity and then grab it with both arms.........dont be scared to work for nothing in order to build a profile.........it was my profile that ended up being my greatest assett at the time..........although it also has a downside..........people can be very hurtful when they want to cut down what they may think is a tall poppy.

Good luck.
 
FoxyKel,

I just thought he was possibly someone I know, I didn't think it was such a big deal I needed to take it to PM's. Fuck, I was just wondering.
 
gb, one off-topic post often generates many off-topic responses, it's like a snowball effect. It was a simple request and your rude response is entirely unjustified.

If you wish to discuss this, contact me privately so as this thread may remain on topic.

- FK.
 
you need to be prepared to work for nothing, and to spend some time just covering your costs.

keep EVERYTHING you write, everything that's published. get in touch with local newsrooms etc; all experience is useful. writing for websites is a good way to get experience.

my dearest papa is an incredibly successful journalist. he started - granted this was early 80s - putting together a 100-circulation free magazine by himself, in a shed. it took a few years to get the break he needed; and from then on it was a matter of application, commitment & integrity.

as he puts it, as a journalist, your worth in monetary terms is contained entirely between your ears. all you have is your reputation, and your integrity. so don't compromise either of them, for anyone.
 
Originally posted by dr seuss
you need to be prepared to work for nothing, and to spend some time just covering your costs.


while i appreciate the reasoning behind this, i thnk a lot of people feel this is the only way to break in and end up doing a lot of work for free. if you believe in your talent and you're prepared to work hard to expose it, i would flip that round.

never write anything for free and never write anything until you've sold it - that is, don't write speculatively. only write once a commission has been agreed.

alasdair
 
so, i just spent half an hour writing the story of my life to finally decide not to post it.
but for the record, i take pictures and write a few texts of/about skateboarding and occasionally music.
my studies had nothing to do with journalism (i find laughable to call myself journalist)
the texts i write are anything but "traditional"
and my biggest accomplishments were to write an article that got me hate mail from members of the french skate industry :p , to write a 7 pages article on vegetarianism in a skateboard magazine =D and to mention the t-shirt "bush is a cunt" in a music article :)
 
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