Jennifer Burns

Journalists are no longer defined by specialty – print, TV, radio.

Today, a journalist is a journalist - ready to report news in print, online or in front of a camera or microphone.

“Careers in journalism are more flexible than they have been,” said Jennifer Burns, assistant dean for career services in the School of Communications. “Journalists should expect to move through several different mediums throughout their careers.”

Burns is author of “Career Opportunities in Journalism” published by Checkmark Books in 2007. She advises journalism students to learn how to reports news multiple ways, because the Internet gives newspapers, magazines, and TV and radio stations a second way to distribute news. Newsrooms are now structured to operate as news information centers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, regardless of medium. Traditional media can report news immediately online rather than waiting for the next scheduled newscast or print edition.

Janice Castro, assistant dean and director of graduate journalism programs at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, wrote the foreword for Burns’ book. “There are no print-only or TV-only newsrooms anymore or any jobs in journalism that are immune to change,” Castro wrote.

This means journalism students need to think of themselves as reporters in general rather than just writers or broadcasters. “Students who develop skills in all aspects of journalism will have the broadest career options,” Burns said.

Another key is experience. Students cannot wait until they graduate and start working full-time to gain experience. Employers expect it even from graduates applying for their first job. Burns encourages students to work for their college newspaper and TV or radio station, do freelance work for hometown media outlets and do internships - the more the better. Large, national media outlets, such as The Washington Post or CNN, prefer intern applicants who already completed an internship at a small to midsize media outlet.

“Students need to get experience while in school,” Burns advises. “The degree alone is not enough in this competitive marketplace.”

And in addition to asking inquisitive questions, knowing where commas go and having a pleasant voice, employers want journalists with something college cannot teach – heart. Journalists don’t work bankers’ hours or earn a lawyer’s salary. Journalists report news because they enjoy telling people what is happening in the world and believe people have a right to know.

“Employers are looking for passion,” Burns said. “Journalists have to want to tell a story, and employers will see that genuine passion.”

Burns’ book offers information and advice for 77 journalism job titles divided into nine categories: newspapers, magazines, television, radio, new media, specialized writing and reporting, other writers, strategic communication and education.

The job titles include top positions, such as editor in chief and executive producer, and midrange and entry-level positions, such as reporter, photographer and editorial assistant. Also listed are specialty titles, such as food writer, film critic, documentary filmmaker, technical writer, traffic reporter and journalism professor. Each job title has information about prerequisites, salaries, employment prospects, advancement, necessary skills, personality traits, unions and associations, and tips for entry.

“Career Opportunities in Journalism” is Burns’ second book. Checkmark Books also published her first book, “Career Opportunities in the Nonprofit Sector,” released in 2006.

Burns earned a master’s degree in counseling from New York University in 1996 and a bachelor’s degree in English from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., in 1993. Her career began as a career counselor at Columbia University in New York City in 1995. She left Columbia in 2003 as associate director for career services.