Student Journos,

I've seen lots of chatter from young journos abt trying/failing/losing out on jobs/internships at Big Publications, i.e. NY/DC media.

I truly can't stress enough how much more you learn & how fun working in local news is.

YOU GET TO DO SO MUCH MORE.

The industry sucks everywhere right now, and I know jobs/internships are scarce & it's a scary time to be a student journo.

Look everywhere. Go to the small paper. You will not be paid a lot, but you will be so much better. You will get on the front page. You will break news!

It's hard! You are reporting on the people in your community, the people in your neighborhood, the people in line at the grocery store w/ you.

You care a lot! You work a lot! You might get laid off! But if you wanna be a journalist, I know no better training ground.

I know there are so many barriers that keep low-income, POC young journalists from getting to do the work for so many reasons. Those exist EVERYWHERE. It SUCKS. If you can navigate those in D.C./N.Y. like insane housing costs, you can navigate them other places, too. Here for u

After I got a taste of NY/DC media, I DID NOT LIKE IT. I was bored! I didn't get to talk to real people & feel like I was making a difference where I lived! I was reporting less & telling fewer stories.I WANTED TO GO BACK TO LOCAL.

So I did! And I STILL LOVE IT.