J-school survival tips from students and grads

Want to go beyond merely surviving j-school to totally owning it? Belinda Alzner hosted a live chat with senior-level j-students and recent grads, where they gave their advice on how to get the most out of j-school. Check out the transcript to see their tips and tricks. Journalism school: While it may be exciting, and…

Want to go beyond merely surviving j-school to totally owning it? Belinda Alzner hosted a live chat with senior-level j-students and recent grads, where they gave their advice on how to get the most out of j-school. Check out the transcript to see their tips and tricks.

Journalism school: While it may be exciting, and your first taste of the adrenaline rush that comes with breaking a story, chasing a lead or landing that big interview, it can also be daunting. What are streeters and standups? Why are they important? How do you find the right source and get them to talk to you? And how the heck do you get a job when you’re done all of this?

We brought in the experts to answer these questions, and more. Matt Braga (Ryerson journalism grad), Katie Breen (Sheridan College senior broadcast student) and Katrina Geenevasen (Loyalist College grad) were fielding questions and giving sage wisdom on how to survive j-school. Check out the transcript below.

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Some highlights:

On time management: Plan, plan, plan. Make lists. Organize yourself. Find a method that works for you, whether its a day planner or an app that syndicates your notes across devices. Also, Cloud storage services like Dropbox are super handy when working on projects with others or on different computers.
On streeters: People smell fear. Be confident, and approach the right people. Don't try to stop the people that look like they have somewhere to be.
On crafting a lede: Katrina gave a great piece of advice that is super simple: Ask yourself what the story is about. Say it out loud. More often than not, that's your lede. Another tactic is to write a placeholder lede, and come back to it later, once you've fleshed out the story. Chances are, by the time you're done you'll have a better idea of what the story is about anyway.
On getting that job/internship you really want: Work hard, take initiative and make your professors take notice of you. After all, they are the ones with the connections to the outside news world.