Comments on: Journalism: It’s just for fun

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 04:58:37 +0000

I don't care if it's a contest. There is not other way I'd get to see the Olympics let alone cover it.
http://journalismdream.theglobeandmail.com/entry_article.asp?id=204
Vote!

By: Ex Intern

Ex Intern — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:20:01 +0000

Thanks for linking to UnfairInternhips.com. Whether in the field of journalism or any other field, it is never fair to assume that one can hire free labor simply because a field is competitive. This is why we have labor laws: to trump the collective action problem of potential workers competing against each other and having no way of getting organized.

By: Jean Naimard

Jean Naimard — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:50:39 +0000

wow and I remember getting told by a certain Uni newspaper office mini-dictator that we shouldn’t get honorariums, we should actually feel privileged to work there.

Was that the New-York Times??? * * * Oh, in other news, Rupert Murdoch is having a fit because “Google is stealing his contents”…

By: WKH

WKH — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:53:54 +0000

wow and I remember getting told by a certain Uni newspaper office mini-dictator that we shouldn't get honorariums, we should actually feel privileged to work there. So gosh I wonder where people get that idea it should continue in the professional world, since I'm certain my experience was not limited. You can't tell people in J School "do not work for free, you are worth more than that" and then pay them nothing when they are indeed WORKING at university papers with standards at least as high as the average community weekly, then expect it not to carry on further. Combining the problem is the fact many of the early adapters to blogging (mostly the celeb ones --see Perez and Trent at pinkisthenewblog) are now pulling down serious bank thanks to advertising, so people do see it as "glamorous."

By: princess iveylocks

princess iveylocks — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 04:19:00 +0000

On a happier note, at least this posits journalism as an exciting, desirable career. No one would enter a "Call Centre Dream!" contest, even if it did involve the Olympics...

By: Jim J.

Jim J. — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:20:32 +0000

http://books.google.com/books?id=4jzEnlEE5l8C&lpg=PP1&dq=sex%20drugs%20and%20cocoa%20puffs%20pdf&pg=PA195#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Since this is on Google, I'm going to proceed from the assumption that it's perfectly legit and that somehow, someone has paid the property royalty to Mr. Klosterman. If you're the kind who agonizes over issues of content ownership and copyright, then govern yourself accordingly.

Specifically, if you read from the first full paragraph on p. 197 up to the break on p. 199, then pick it up at the break on p. 206 and read through to the end of the chapter at p. 209, this neatly encapsulates what I perceive to be modern-day journalism, as practiced by regular, everyday reporters, writers, editors and page designers who are not investigative journalism superstars à la Woodward & Bernstein.

By: Fagstein

Fagstein — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:40:26 +0000

American Idol winners are promised record deals, at least. In other words, a job. Winners of the "Journalism Dream" contest get to work for free (or, at least, dirt cheap) and have to pay for their own telephone calls.

By: Jean Naimard

Jean Naimard — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 05:40:00 +0000

Journalists now are expected to be croporate mouthpieces, so it’s only normal that they would get people whose critical thinking has been dulled by stupid croporate games (a contest) to become “journalists”.

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 02:58:49 +0000

Well, it doesn't seem to be breaking new ground, does it? What of the Idols, the Apprentices, the Hell's Kitchen chefs? Nobody wants to work to get famous anymore these days, Steve. Why should journalism - at least, as in this case, Olympic journalism (which in a home-soil Olympics we know is going to amount to little more than boosterism anyway) - be any different?

By: Stephen Gordon

Stephen Gordon — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:33:06 +0000

Maybe this is simply an acknowledgment that there really isn't anything that people have to learn to become a journalist.

If media outlets start picking people at random to do journo work, will anyone notice?

By: MM

MM — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:54:49 +0000

Wow! What a great contest. Can the winner even do a free spot to help CTVglobemedia save local TV! Oh wait, that's another contest. Possibly a new show on CTV. Forget about "Do you think you can dance Canada", how about, "Do you think you can be our tool Canada"

By: Jim J.

Jim J. — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:56:21 +0000

Journalism, glamourous? Pfft. Most of the journalists I am acquainted with (having worked in an intensely political environment for 5+ years; namely, the New York State legislature, I met quite a few) are poorly-dressed, put-upon schlubs, who I find don't write particularly well, almost invariably don't ask terribly insightful questions and, far too often, regurgitate nearly-verbatim quotes from press releases in their columns. It oftentimes seems that their desire to avoid "bias" means, to them, that they make liberal use the word "allegedly," as in "the naked suspect allegedly ran down Ste-Catherine St. to the corner of Peel Street at 1:00 p.m. last Saturday afternoon, firing a handgun into the crowd, until he was taken into custody by police." Right. "Allegedly." Wow, you are really unbiased. Don't want to prejudge the outcome of that case. In that case, the use of "allegedly" doesn't make you unbiased, it makes you stupid. Now, of course, the editorial process impacts on some of this; in the interests of space and wishing to avoid potential libel issues, stuff invariably gets cut down and "allegedly" gets sprinkled throughout the article. Fine, fine. Point conceded. However, if anything, journalists are typically scorned, rather than thought of as glamourous. Read Chapter 16 of Chuck Klosterman's "Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs" to get a better understanding of the way journalists think and write.