I've been fortunate enough to have a bit of success in the industry. That success has been a product of a little bit of talent, a whole lot of pure dumb luck and an enormous amount of help from folks who took the time to give me advice, introduce me to people, critique my work, help me improve my skills...
And now I try my best to even out that karma by helping out folks via various speaking engagements, workshops, articles and at VisualEditors. Some of you folks have benefitted from this help. And that's great.
But it can't end there. Just as you're grateful for the help YOU receive, make sure you take the time to help out folks who are younger than you. Or less-talented than you. Or older and MORE talented than you but who need reassurance.
We all know how to "suck up." But when you finally achieve a certain level of success in this business, make sure you set aside some time for "sucking down."
It's the least you can do to thank us for the time WE spent helping YOU.
3. Read everything.
Yeah, yeah, I know: You don't have time to read.
Well, the kid who'll get the job you apply for is probably MAKING the time to read.
Fact is, the more the read, the more you know. The more you read, the smarter you get. The more you read, the less work you'll have to do later to get caught up on background material on important assignments later.
Read all your campus publications. Read your local metro papers. Read the New York Times -- especially on Sunday. If you like Science, read it on Tuesday. If you like gadgets, read it on Thursday, too.
Read the articles posted at Poynter and at the American Press Institute. Read every post at VisualEditors.
Don't just read the articles about news design or graphics -- read the ones about the newspaper industry. Read the ones about the future of journalism. I know they can be depressing. Read 'em anyway.
Read about ethics. Read about current events. Read about politics. Read about human nature.
Read on the page or read online. Despite what you've been told it makes no difference. Just read.
There are a certain number of college students who are looking forward to graduating, just so they can be "done" with their education. And then there are the SHARP students who realize that their diploma marks just the start of their education.
2. Simplify.
We spend a lot of time building complex elements with Photoshop and playing with different fonts. But the way to produce great pages -- pages that your readers will want to read and pages that will make editors want to hire you -- is to make them clean and simple and readable.
One nice, big photo is better than two. Two wonderful, well-played photos are better than three.
And the No. 1 thing a college journalist should remember:
1. Readers.
It ain't about the stories: No matter how well you write your stories, folks won't read it just because "it's a good read."
It ain't about the photos or the graphics, either.
It's about the READER.
If it doesn't tell a story -- a story your reader wants to read -- and if it doesn't tell it well and tell it quickly, then it might as well be a house ad.
Keep the reader in mind with everything you do. Do that, and your readers will be more likely to keep YOU in mind.
