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Young Black Journalists Prepped on Landing Dream Job

Photo credit: Craig Young/NABJ Convention Online Erinn Haines of the Associated Press, left, Gregory H. Lee Jr., of the Boston Globe, Kelley L. Carter of the Detroit Free Press and Andrew Guy Jr. of the Houston Chronicle warned young journalists of pitfalls.

By Shauntel Lowe
Black College Wire

"Black journalists are held to a higher standard than their white colleagues."

This common speculation among young African American journalists was echoed by a panel of those who are already successful, in Indianapolis at this year's National Association of Black Journalists annual convention.

The Aug. 16-20 convention provided its thousands of attendees the opportunity to network, to participate in discussions about such topics as career planning, free speech and racism, and to search for jobs and internships at a job fair. At the Aug. 19 awards banquet, NABJ President Bryan Monroe put the attendance figure at 2,452.

The "How to Land Your Dream Job Before 30" workshop, held Aug. 18 and one of more than 50 on the program, was sponsored by the NABJ Young Journalists Task Force as a way for young journalists to hear wisdom from older ones.

Workshop moderator Errin Haines, a reporter with the Associated Press and a co-winner of NABJ’s Emerging Journalist of the Year award, joined panelists Kelley L. Carter, a music writer for the Detroit Free Press, Andrew Guy Jr., features writer for the Houston Chronicle and Gregory H. Lee Jr., senior assistant sports editor for the Boston Globe.

"You’re always going to be watched because you’re different," Lee said of young black journalists. "You either accept it as a burden or you accept it as a challenge."

Guy said he was once told on a job evaluation that his habit of folding his arms made him seem intimidating. He said he would often sit and look upward as he was thinking, and in his evaluator's mind, Guy was constantly rolling his eyes.

"We’re perceived differently," Guy said.

Because "perception is everything in newsrooms," Guy said it was important for young journalists to choose their battles carefully. His fights over such small issues as an editor changing his lead prevented him from rising faster, he said:

"It branded me as young and angry. They saw me as unreasonable."

The panelists said that in addition to watching their images, young journalists should make themselves more marketable by having a diverse set of journalistic skills across media genres.

"Broadcast and print was like the separation of church and state, and now that’s completely changed," Carter said, acknowledging shifts prompted by technology.

Carter said that though she is a music writer, she has to be prepared to do television and radio.

But more than skill diversity and image consciousness, panelists stressed the importance of networking.

Haines, the workshop moderator, said networking at NABJ conventions had been instrumental in landing all of her jobs and internships.

"Everything on my resume is a direct result of NABJ," she said.

The panelists said networking isn’t limited to journalism conventions.

"Recruiting doesn’t always happen inside the job fair," Carter said, recalling about a conversation she had with a recruiter she met while out having drinks.

Jason Lockhart, a recent graduate of Rutgers University who was in the audience, said he had been making his rounds through the NABJ's job fair, talking to recruiters and handing out resumes in search of his dream job – being a news reporter for a major newspaper in the New York area.

Speaking to recruiters helped him better understand what they are looking for in job candidates, he said.

The panelists also said having a mentor can help young journalists prepare for job interviews and learn how to navigate newsrooms.

But they added that young journalists should not be intimidated by older journalists or be afraid to embrace their unique positions as black voices in a world often dominated by white ones.

"I’m always going to be myself," Lee said. "Be who you are."

Shauntel Lowe is a student at the University of California, Los Angeles and an intern for the Black College Wire. She can be reached at [email protected].

Posted Aug. 21, 2006