VOICES Publishing from the AAJA National Convention
In a swiftly changing media landscape where layoffs are common, young or aspiring journalists may find it difficult to secure an internship or a job in a field that is both shifting and competitive.
According to the 2013 American Society of Newspaper Editors survey, there were only 38,000 full-time daily newspaper journalists last year, down 2,600 from just the previous year – the lowest since the survey began in 1978. However, journalists of a racial or ethnic minority increased by 1 percent to 4,900, or about 13.34 percent.
Despite the high uncertainty, many journalists have still been able to successfully navigate the industry.
Voices recently caught up with six professional journalists who shared how they got to where they are in the industry and their advice for aspiring journalists on how to find success.
Matt Stevens, 26
Matt Stevens worked at UCLA’s Daily Bruin as a sportswriter where he wrote a series of stories on basketball in Cameroon through the newspaper’s Bridget O’Brien Scholarship. He has interned at the Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Times, spending seven months in the Times’ Metpro diversity training program before joining the paper as a full-time reporter in 2012. He now covers Los Angeles County’s Westside.
Maya Sugarman, 25
Maya Sugarman worked at the Daily Bruin as a photojournalist and worked with Matt Stevens documenting basketball in Cameroon. Both during and after college she interned at the East Bay Express, Santa Monica Daily Press, Orange County Register, L.A. Daily News and Antelope Valley Press before becoming a visual journalist for Southern California Public Radio.
Josie Huang, 36
Josie Huang, a graduate of Dartmouth College, started her career as a staff writer at the Springfield Republican in Massachusetts in 1999, and then at the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram. She then switched media and in 2008 started producing radio, joining the Maine Public Broadcasting Network, then Southern California Public Radio in 2012, where she now covers immigration and emerging communities.
Rong-Gong Lin II, 31
Rong-Gong Lin II worked as the editor and reporter for the Daily Californian at the University of California, Berkeley until 2004 and wrote editorials during internships at the Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post. He is now a reporter at the L.A. Times, where he covers earthquake safety and government, among other topics.
Lily Leung, 29
Before and after graduating from Northwestern University in 2007, Lily Leung worked at numerous publications, including internships at the Miami Herald, Naples (Fla.) Daily News, the Arizona Republic and U-T San Diego. She now works at the Orange County Register as a business reporter, covering retail and small business.
David Ono, 51
David Ono, a graduate of the University of North Texas, worked at a handful of TV stations in Texas and California before joining ABC7 Eyewitness News in Los Angeles in 1996 as a co-anchor. During his career, he has covered events such as the Haiti earthquake, Japanese tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, the selection of the pope and the Boston Marathon bombing.
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