Journalist | Sarah Jackson reports as @Journoholic

Posts Tagged ‘journalist’

How one cup of coffee changed my life

A recent conversation, over coffee, brought to mind a seemingly insignificant moment that changed my life.

This recent chat was with Megan Robertson, a very kind and bright journalist who I met on Twitter the week before. She was welcoming me to New York City and offering career advice, and the conversation strayed to her own climb up the corporate ladder. “I can think of one or two people — if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be where I am now,” she recalled.

That remark reminded me of the people who have invested in my own life. There are many, yet one person in particular has profoundly shaped the path of my life. I can say with absolute confidence that, if not for Bob Basil, who chairs the applied communications department and teaches at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, my story would be drastically different. It was one cup of coffee, …

May 16, 2012 Tags: America, coffee, college, education, future, Journalism, journalist, networking, work
Category: Journalism, Life 3 Comments

Dust begins to settle after 4-year whirlwind

Times of transition are among the most stressful periods in life. There is no doubting that. It does not come as a surprise.

I finished earning my four-year journalism degree last week, and with that, a stage of life came to a lurching end. Lurching, because the last semester (and years) have been crammed full of juggling multiple jobs, a full course load and all of the regular life chores and activities that pack the to-do list of young people who live on their own. Plus, I was arranging a move and securing an apartment in New York.

Suddenly, though, my scheduler was free of pressing deadlines. There are no more homework assignments. I was no longer a student.

I liked the sound of that. But as I talk with other students in the class of 2012, I’m realizing we are all lost, empty, searching for a new identity. There were no fireworks …

April 25, 2012 Tags: America, Canada, college, freedom, future, identity, jobs, journalist, work
Category: Life 4 Comments

The future is looking up for journalism students

Journalism jobs have been springing up throughout B.C. recently — and young journalists are being eyed to fill those positions.

It’s a sign of the times, an admission that tech-savvy and energetic 20-somethings can provide necessary skills to aging newsrooms less inclined to adopt extra work in their already busy days. Some fondly remember the days of spending days on big stories; students now have never known that luxury.

Today, it is all about speed, website hits and the number of published stories.

It has been encouraging to see so many job openings this summer, though competition for those spots is stiff. A young age is now an asset in the eyes of many hiring editors. Those editors are keen to consider young reporters’ tech advice and newsrooms that have limited knowledge of multimedia production are eager to learn.

There have been permanent openings at a number of newspapers. And though there are few …

August 14, 2011 Tags: college, economy, freelance, future, Journalism, journalist, work
Category: Journalism, Life No Comments

A pen, paper and a story

How my childhood led me to a career as a journalist

A blank piece of paper is pure magic. With strokes of a pen, an entire universe comes to life. Beauty that surpasses even artistry fills the expanses of the imagination.

First, a never-ending garden with the greenest, tallest grass, aging Willow trees, and roses every colour of the rainbow. Lilacs befriended by young hummingbirds grow alongside a well-worn path of red brick. It smells gloriously earthy, of air just cleaned by a spring rain. This secret paradise is the escape of an 8-year-old girl, Anna. She is a short and quiet, but the state of her clothing speaks volumes. Her bright sundress hiked to her knees, she marches through the waist-high meadow, unashamed of the grass stains covering her white tights. ………

The imagination is the most powerful tool a person can possess. I learned this early in life. Poverty? I didn’t know that I was using paper and reading books because …

July 24, 2011 Tags: America, education, future, identity, jobs, Journalism, journalist, work, writing
Category: Journalism, Life 1 Comment

#Collegejourn’s first global reporting project takes shape

Let’s face it: people are cynical about the future of journalism. But the decline in public trust, relevance and interest wasn’t your fault, or mine. It happened over many decades of the media neglecting trends and allowing unreliable or biased sources to undermine journalistic integrity. It’s our job to revolutionize journalism. We have all the resources we need — and now we have a plan.

#Collegejourn, for those who don’t know, is a Twitter hashtag that college journalists originally used to identify their comments as being a part of #collegejourn’s conversation. Hashtags can entered into the Twitter search box for easy access to the conversation’s history. #Collegejourn conversations now take place weekly at www.collegejourn.com and through interspersed Twitter chat, always branded by #collegejourn.

The chat group decided to create an international reporting assignment during one of the weekly chats in August. We wondered, as all curious journalists should, what we could …

September 20, 2009 Tags: collegejourn, future, global, health, Journalism, journalist, media, News, reporting
Category: Journalism 1 Comment

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