One Day, One Job » newspaper

Crain Communications

Willy Franzen — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:35:49 +0000

Now that I’ve lived in Chicago for three years, I’m starting to feel more like a part of the Chicago business community. And a big piece of being a part of a community is keeping up on your local news. I rely a lot of sources, but I’ve found that Crain’s Chicago Business consistently does great reporting on the Chicago business scene. Crain’s Chicago Business is published by Crain Communications, which is “one of the largest privately owned business publishers in the U.S., with more than 27 leading business, trade and consumer publications and related websites in North America, Europe and Asia.” Crain is headquartered in Detroit, MI, but their publications are headquartered in a variety of places. Crain was founded in 1916 by GD Crain Jr., and it remains a family owned business to this day despite a few bumps in the road that would be expected for any company in the publishing industry (like layoffs a couple of years ago).

Crain Your Neck

What I really like about Crain Communications is that their lineup of brands serves a lot of different interests. They cover broader business news in Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and New York, and they cover the Advertising and Media Industry with titles like Advertising Age and TelevisionWeek. They publish Waste & Recycling News, and they have 7 publications focused on the Plastics and Rubber industries. High quality publications that target specific niches are great for advertisers, which is why Crain has an advantage over more general business publications. If you’re digging Crain’s approach to niches and you like their “Readers First” mentality, then you should definitely give their Jobs page a look. Right now they have a variety of great opportunities for new or recent grads including:

Assistant Web Producer – Ad Age (New York, NY)
Digital Assistant Managing Editor – Investment News (New York, NY)
Digital Media Analyst – Pensions & Investments (New York, NY)
Digital Reporter – Ad Age (San Francisco, CA)
Editorial Assistant – Pensions & Investments (Chicago, IL)
Editorial Assistant – Business Insurance (Chicago, IL)
Freelance Reporter – Ad Age (Washington, DC)
Marketing Database Administrator (Detroit, MI)
Part-time Editorial Researcher – Tire Business (Akron, OH)
Research Analyst – Staffing Industry Analysts (Mountain View, CA)
Staff Reporter – Plastics News (Akron, OH)
Video Editor – Crain’s Chicago Business (Chicago, IL)
Web Developer – Ad Age (New York, NY)

There are all kinds of cool opportunities at Crain, so hopefully one of them will appeal to you. Ad Age may be a sexy name because you heard about it in Mad Men, but don’t overlook writing for Plastics News or Tire Business–sometimes things that seem mundane are actually pretty interesting.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read any of Crain’s publications?

Seeing Interactive

Willy Franzen — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 15:55:16 +0000

Ten years ago, who would have thought that both major and local newspapers would be losing money, and small no-name online publishers would be raking in millions of dollars? We all know that the Internet has changed the way that information is distributed and consumed, but far fewer people are aware of the economics behind it all. Newspaper advertising was all about offering the chance to be seen. The Internet came along and now you can know how many views, clicks, and purchases your advertising dollars delivering. There’s still a ton of value in the content that traditional newspapers are producing, but many of them have failed to figure out how to make producing that content profitable in the Internet age. Seeing Interactive is an Austin, TX based company that hopes to change that. They provide web-based products to publishers that cost nothing up-front while guaranteeing customers new revenue. It sounds a little crazy, but it sounds to me like Seeing Interactive has productized what a “web monetization consultant” (if such a thing exists) would do.

Seeing Is Believing

Seeing Interactive has built their business on four relatively simple principles:

We believe that local communities are under-served digitally and that using our software newspapers can be the online hub where communities come together.
Our services should always be available with fast and reliable hosting.
Your data security is a top priority and we will use the latest and best technology to protect it.
We understand the value of your brand and are committed to providing a white-label solution that upholds your reputation.

Right now they offer three distinct products. AdForge converts print ads into a web-friendly format, Marketplace provides a simple white-lable business directory, and Seeing Cars provides a platform for local car ads. If you take a look at each of the products, you’ll see that the Newspapers keep doing what they’re supposed to be doing—producing content that is relevant to the local community and selling ads to local businesses—and Seeing Interactive provides a platform for them to make these activities more profitable. If you want to help the newspaper industry stay viable and continue to be a part of local communities, then Seeing Interactive is the place for you. Right now they’re looking for an Operations Assistant, Account Executives, and Web/Software Developers. The job postings don’t say much about experience requirements, so use that as an entry to tell them why you’ll be a huge addition to their team. Please give it a thought, without local newspapers, I won’t be able to read the local Police Reports and see which of the kids I went to school with (or their parents) is in trouble.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you still read a newspaper?

New York Daily News

Willy Franzen — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:38:18 +0000

I honestly can’t tell you when the last time that I picked up a newspaper was. It’s not that I’m sequestering myself from current events, it’s just that I do most of my media consumption online because it’s so easy. Obviously, attitudes like mine are causing a lot of distress in the newspaper industry, but I think there’s still a great business in delivering quality content. One area where online media kicks traditional media’s butt is in grabbing eyeballs. Sensationalism sells, and most newspapers still haven’t grasped that. However, tabloids, especially those based in New York, have always known how to get attention. That’s why there’s a good chance that I’ll pick up a copy of the New York Daily News if it’s sitting on a table at the coffee shop that my parents like to take me to back in Connecticut (where I’m headed this morning). It may not be the most reliable source for information or the most academic, but you have to love the fact that the New York Daily News understands the psychology of its readers and uses that knowledge to convince them to read. It doesn’t matter how great the writing is if nobody reads it.

Daily Jobs, Daily News

The New York Daily News was founded in 1919 and has had a tumultuous history and has nearly gone out of business multiple times. Today, however, they are the fifth most widely circulated newspaper in the United States, printing 535,059 issues on a daily basis. Up until 1991 the New York Daily News was owned and operated by the Tribune Company, but it is now owned by Mort Zuckerman. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find an About page for the Daily News, so I recommend that you check out its Wikipedia entry to get the full story. Along with having no About page, the Daily News also has a shoddy Jobs page, even if they say that its their “great employees” that make them “a great news organization.” They don’t actually list jobs, but they do mention that they typically hire in the areas of Advertising, Circulation, Marketing, Production, Technology, Finance, and Digital. I’m pretty sure that you can add Editorial and Writing to that list too, and probably Social Media too. They recommend that candidates reach out to them at resumes@nydailynews.com, and it looks like that may be worthwhile. A quick look at LinkedIn shows that a number of the Daily News’ most recent hires were at or near the entry level.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read the New York Daily News?

Everett Daily Herald

Willy Franzen — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 11:57:28 +0000

Since I moved to Chicago a year and a half ago, I don’t think I’ve picked up a newspaper more than a handful of times. However, when I lived in Connecticut I was often reading both the daily regional local newspaper and the bi-weekly super local newspaper for my town. It was always fun to see which of the kids from my elementary school class got arrested in a given week (don’t act like you don’t read the Police Reports first). I often forget how many local newspapers are out there and how many jobs they provide. It may be an industry in flux (or on its way out depending on how you look at it), but it’s still a great place to start your career. This morning I noticed that Twitter was abuzz with word of a paid internship with the Everett Daily Herald (that’s Everett, WA), so I figured I’d take a look and see if there were any jobs open too.

Go Local

The Everett Daily Herald published its first issue on February 11, 1901. They launched their online edition, HeraldNet, on January 5, 1997. They are the news source for Snohomish county, and they obviously have been for a long time. They may be owned by The Washington Post Company, but they’re still all about local news. Hopefully local newspapers like The Daily Herald will keep on trucking, because local news is really important, yet there aren’t many other outlets that cover it. It’s a good sign that The Daily Herald started online so early (and seems to have done it right), because I know a lot of local newspaper still haven’t figured out how to effectively deliver news on the Internet. If you like what you see with The Everett Daily Herald, you should check out their Jobs page. They have three positions posted right now, and two of them seem right for new grads: Account Executive and Info Systems Analyst. The third might be worth a look if you always idolized the guys in the movie Newsies.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read a local newspaper?

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Willy Franzen — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 16:17:55 +0000

One of the cool things about doing what I do is that I get a lot of interview requests from media outlets. At least once a week I’m talking to someone who is writing about entry level employment or internships. What’s even cooler is when someone writes about me, and doesn’t even interview me. I’ll suddenly see a Google Alert pop up for my name or brand name, and I’ll click the link to see who’s talking about me. One of the most exciting mentions came from the journal Science and their Science Careers Blog. In case you didn’t know, Science, the Science Careers Blog, and many other publications and newsletters are published by The American Association for the Advancement of Science. The AAAS is a Washington, DC based “non-profit organization dedicated to advancing science around the world by serving as an educator, leader, spokesperson and professional association.” They work in areas likescience policy, international programs, and science education, and

Are You Advancing Science?

Now, the AAAS mission statement includes a lot of bullet points, but I thought that it was worth including them all here since it will give you a much better feel for what the AAAS is trying to accomplish. Their goals are to:

Enhance communication among scientists, engineers, and the public;

Promote and defend the integrity of science and its use;

Strengthen support for the science and technology enterprise;

Provide a voice for science on societal issues;

Promote the responsible use of science in public policy;

Strengthen and diversify the science and technology workforce;

Foster education in science and technology for everyone;

Increase public engagement with science and technology; and

Advance international cooperation in science.

If you want a broader look at the kind of work that the AAAS does, you can check out their Programs page. It has links to pretty much everything that they do. Now, if you’re a scientist (amateur or professional), the AAAS could be a pretty cool place to start your career. They don’t have a ton of jobs posted, but there area few that might be of interest to new college grads. The AAAS provides a ton of links to Career resources including their Science Careers website on their initial Career Center page, but you can find their actual job postings here. The only position that really looks suitable for a new grad is Production Specialist, but you might as well look at the others too.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read Science?

ProPublica

Willy Franzen — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 13:00:28 +0000

We often put journalism on a pedestal. We trust our for-profit news outlets to cover everything important, but how do we know that they’re doing a good job? In an age where making money from news is getting harder and harder, it’s obvious that many media outlets have resorted to covering what drives eyeballs instead of what’s important. This isn’t really a new development, but it seems to be getting worse. Investigative journalism is dying a slow, painful death, and sensationalist, opinion-based journalism is taking over. Clearly that’s where the money is, so if we want to hear about stories with “moral force,” we’re going to have to look somewhere else. ProPublica is “an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest” based in Manhattan. They realize that investigative reporting has become a luxury that many newspapers can’t afford, so they’ve taken it upon themselves to save the art. They haven’t been around 2 years yet, and they already have ” a newsroom of 32 working journalists, all of them dedicated to investigative reporting on stories with significant potential for major impact.”

Are You ProPublica?

As cool as the idea behind ProPublica is, it still makes me wonder whether there could be a better for-profit alternative. I think that market forces play an important role in promoting quality, and I wonder how ProPublica will emulate the motivation that a need for profitability drives. I guess it all comes down to the quality of ProPublica’s people, and it sounds as though they have an amazing team of talented news people. Additionally, ProPublica has worked hard to ensure that their “model assures an unusually high level of accountability for a non-profit.” To me, the coolest thing about ProPublica is that they give their journalism away for free—not just to the masses via the Internet—but to other traditional news organization on an exclusive basis. If you’re impressed by how ProPublica works, and you’d like to be involved, check out their Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for two investigative reporters. They’d love to have people who have “focused on energy and environment, education or immigration,” but they’re open to applicants from any background. You’ll obviously need some strong journalistic experience, so hopefully you’ve been writing for that college newspaper. To apply, send a résumé and cover letter to reportingjobs@propublica.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you get your news from ProPublica?

San Francisco Chronicle

Willy Franzen — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:12:19 +0000

Being a newspaper these days is tough. I’d imagine it’s especially tough in a place like San Francisco where people embrace new technologies so quickly. Although I’d also expect those early adopters to be just the types who are heavy users of newspapers. I’m not sure where that leaves the San Francisco Chronicle, but they do seem to have a strong history of adapting to changes in their business model. According to Wikipedia, they first went online with SFGate.com in 1994, and now they’re moving towards a focus on subscriptions instead of advertising to generate revenue. I’m not sure that’s going to work long term, but you have to like the flexibility that the San Francisco Chronicle has shown over the years. It’s no surprise that they remain one of the largest newspapers in the country.

Chronicle Your Job Search

One of the disappointing things about most newspapers and magazines is that they don’t provide much information about themselves on their websites. They publish plenty of content, but getting the inside scoop on the company is usually tough. The Chronicle follows this trend, although they do provide a very in-depth history page. One of the few other “meta” pages that the San Francisco Chronicle has is their Jobs page. They don’t have a ton of openings, but current listings include Online Client Services Coordinator (this is the most “entry level”), Inside Sales Account Executive, Account Executive – Retail Advertising, and Commission Only Account Executive. There aren’t any Editorial positions open right now, but The Chronicle does accept general résumé submissions here. They also list hr@sfchronicle.com as an e-mail address to send additional application materials to.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read the San Francisco Chronicle?

The Boston Globe

Willy Franzen — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:48:50 +0000

It feels pretty good to be talking about a Boston based newspaper today knowing that they have to report on another trip to the World Series for the Yankees; although, I’m sure they’d much rather be publishing stories on what Dustin Pedroia and Jonathan Papelbon are doing during their offseason (possibly watching the World Series from their couches). Now that I’ve gotten in my dig at Red Sox fans, we can take a look at The Boston Globe, Boston’s most widely read newspaper. The paper is owned by the New York Times and has an excellent web presence at Boston.com. Much like other newspapers the Globe has had significant financial struggles, and The New York Times even threatened to shut the paper down if the paper’s union didn’t accept major concessions. Apparently those problems have been worked out, and The Boston Globe is now on more stable ground. At least that’s what the fact that they’re hiring would indicate.

Navigate The Globe

When it comes to newspapers and magazines, there’s no better way to get to know them than to read them. Luckily, you can do that online at Boston.com, which is a good example of how newspapers should use the web. I’m especially impressed with their Big Picture photoblog, which is constantly getting voted up on social media news sites. Since you’re going to have to start reading The Boston Globe to get a feel for them, let’s jump right to their jobs. If you take a look at their Job postings, you’ll see that there are only a few openings; however, a number of those jobs seem perfect for new grads. These include positions in Outbound Sales, Web Programming/Development, Technical Production, and Online Advertising Traffic Coordination. Most of the job postings don’t appear to be very fresh, but they’re still posted, so apply online and see what happens.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read The Boston Globe?we

The Huffington Post

Willy Franzen — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:40:01 +0000

We all know that news is changing, and jobs in journalism aren’t what they used to be. We’re in the middle of a major transitional stage that is going to determine how news is delivered for years to come. Blogs are becoming more and more reputable, and one of the companies that best exemplifies that trend is The Huffington Post. They’re a New York City based news website and blog network with an admittedly liberal slant (traditional newspapers would never position themselves in that way—even if they have the same biases). The site was launched in 2005, and since then it has grown to a $100 million valuation. While newspapers are dropping like flies, new fortunes are being made by blogging moguls. This is an exciting time to be involved in media, and it presents a ton of really exciting opportunities for new grads to grab a place in journalism’s future.

Join “The Internet Newspaper”

Who knows if blog networks and news sites like the Huffington Post will be the dominant players in 5 years? Maybe sites like Twitter will find a way to dominate the news. Or maybe traditional media companies like The New York Times and Condé Naste will get their acts together and make a resurgence. Nobody knows how this will all play out, but it will be exciting to be a part of. If you’re a big fan of The Huffington Post, and already have a background in politics, media, or journalism, then you need to check out their Jobs page. The only full time position that they have posted (all of the others are internships) is Overnight Associate News Editor. It’s certainly not an entry level job by definition, but I could see a new grad who has been doing all the right things up to graduation being a perfect fit. You can apply by sending a cover letter and résumé to pitney@huffingtonpost.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read The Huffington Post?

Associated Press

Willy Franzen — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:00:27 +0000

On Tuesday we talked about becoming a blogger and sneaking into the journalism profession through the back door, but today we’re going to talk about the “legit route.” The Associated Press is world’s largest and oldest news-gathering organization, and for that reason it’s probably one of the most respected names in journalism.

Technically, the AP is a not-for-profit cooperative. So, you might be saying, “stick these guys with the other non-profits on the weekends!” Since the cooperative is owned by the contributing newspapers, radio stations, and television stations, we think we’ve put the AP and its entry-level jobs in the right place.

Basically, the AP is the news. Go pick up a newspaper and see how many times they get the byline. So if you want to get into any type of journalism, there is no better place that the Associated Press. Wikipedia does a much better job of telling the AP’s history, so we’ll send you there for that and get right down to jobs.

We love-love-love the way the Associated Press’ jobs landing page (before you get on their careers site) breaks down their opportunities. For Students… For Word People… For Picture People… For Graphics People… For Radio People… For Television People… For Online People… For Technology People… For Sales People… For Administrative People… Each has a description about the opportunities for the specified types of people. It manages to be extremely inviting to all job seekers, while at the same time delivering a tailored message to 10 different audiences (but seriously, who considers himself administrative?). The one unfortunate thing is that these descriptions don’t have a link to a page with specific opportunities for each. That would be an absolutely killer implementation. AP are you listening?

From the landing page, we headed to the AP’s main careers site, which struck fear in our hearts. After such a welcoming intro, we were faced with the ugliness of having to register to search their job opportunities… or so we thought. We actually found a tiny little link that will allow you to search jobs - there’s no need to register unless you want to apply. From there you can show all jobs and be on your merry way…

Or you can just go straight to the entry-level friendly jobs that we hand picked for our wonderful, soon to be college graduate readers. If you’re into Technology, take a look at the openings for Business Product Analyst, Order Processing Specialist, Taxonomy Developer, and Tier 1 Product Support Specialist. For techies with great communications skills, there’s a job as the Intranet Manager. And the future journalists in the group will be happy to see jobs such as APTN Newsperson, Online Video Network Product Specialist, and Medical/Science Writer. These jobs are in a variety of big city locations, but the majority are in New York City.

We have a feeling that many of the more news-y jobs at the Associated Press are actually at the local bureaus. So, if you’ve figured out where you want to live after graduation, you can use the AP contact page to inquire about job opportunities at any of the local bureaus. If you can’t figure out where you want to live, why not try contacting them all? Report back in the comments section about which bureaus have entry-level openings and help your fellow job searchers.

Note: On April 23rd we revisited entry-level jobs at the Associated Press.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think is the better way into journalism? A first job at the Associated Press? Blogging on your own? Or a combination of the two?