-: Well now UMD has a Journalism degree
or a Journalism major.
When I was in school, I was Writing Studies
and there were two tracks,
either Journalism or Professional Writing.
So what I did in my undergrad, because our major
wasn't quite specific to what I wanted to do,
I did a lot of internships, I internshipped
with the local TV station, two of them actually,
and any publications I could, some public relations
on campus here, anything where I could write
and have my name out there, or produce anything really,
any photos or video, that's a huge thing.
You can't be a journalist anymore and just write.
It really, it really helps if you
have some video experience,
have some audio experience, take photos.
Before I was at the News Tribune,
I worked at my hometown community weekly paper
and I had to take the photos, I had to write the stories,
I started a social media for our paper
and lay out the pages, so I literally had to do every step.
That's also a good way to get into this field,
is start at the bottom and learn every job.
Most places that I've seen that have a digital
or media producer, they're using DSLR cameras
and audio equipment that's attached to that
and their tripods and most places use Adobe.
Interview people that you think will be good for the story,
sometimes not everybody works out that you interview.
So, being okay with being like, alright I'll throw
that interview off to the side for another time.
So, being able to act on your feet and being willing
to learn, learn new techniques, whether it's in editing
or shooting video, just constantly be learning.
'Cause once you're stagnant,
that's when you get into trouble I think.