Last weekend I flew to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for the National Writer’s Workshop. It’s a two-day series of lectures by writers and journalists covering “interview skills, crafting story ideas, the legal responsibilities of writers and writing techniques.”

I was a little disappointed in the lectures. Although “Dirty old men, low rent crooks and the book of Proverbs works: How getting people to talk will help you gather the reporting to write a narrative investigation,” (that’s a really long title!) presented by Manny Garcia of the Miami Herald, and a few others were very interesting and helpful to student journalists, most of the lectures seemed to be aimed at getting a book published or introducing online journalism concepts to those of the print orientation. I stopped in all of the online journalism lectures, but they were mostly aimed at newbies.

I did have interviews with The Miami Herald, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and the Associated Press, but they turned out to be more like information sessions (how to apply for this particular internship with this particular organization) than actual job interviews.

But I didn’t don the monkey suit for nothing. I’m seriously applying for multimedia internships (or jobs) with The Miami Herald and AP.

Next week I’ll be heading out to SNDBoston, which promises both educational and networking opportunities, plus a chance to visit with some of my northern friends. I’m particularly excited that Adrian Holovaty and Brian Storm will be there.

I’m getting pretty close to graduating, and so have been trolling the journalism job sites looking at job descriptions and employers. One of the job titles I see pop up pretty often is that of “community journalist.”

Now hold on a second…isn’t a journalist supposed to report on the happenings of his or her community? Isn’t that the whole point?

From a job description:

We cover stories ranging from local government to business profiles, features and school news, all with an eye toward real people. Our style is to engage our readers in solving community problems.

Yup, that’s what journalists do.

Another one:

This newspaper’s award-winning staff has gained national attention during the past year for its commitment to putting “community” back into journalism, and building a newspaper that its customers consider a “must read.”

When did community ever leave journalism? Is this a reaction to the hyper-local discussion?
Every journalist is reporting on a community. Be it a neighborhood, a city, county, state, country, these are all communities.

Buzzwords are silly.

Starting today, every Monday I’m guest posting over at Angela Grant’s News Videographer.

I’ll be writing about video from the college perspective: jobs and internships, video on college media sites, interviews, j-school courses, etc.

So head on over and check it out! Feel free to drop comments and tips as well.

In the last week, I started a new semester, launched a website with a new CMS and design, stayed awake for 48 hours, got sick, got well, spent an unjustifiable amount of money on books, cleaned my apartment twice, turned 21, interviewed three people, and caught up on the summer backlog.

But thus far, I have met with success on all fronts.

This semester is really exciting for me because I am the New Media Managing Editor at The Independent Florida Alligator, 9 months away from graduation, and my various connections and activities are going places and getting results. Awesome. It’s also very stressful, for the same reasons. Trying to sync up schedules at three different jobs during the first week of classes results in a lot of mayhem, but that should be settled now. All I have to do is not fall behind.

My responsibilities for this semester include:

• · Bringing more people, news and multimedia to The Independent Florida Alligator web site
• · 4 classes: Photographic Journalism, Problems and Ethics in Journalism, Reporting and Writing for the Web, and Advanced Interactive Reporting

Advanced Interactive Reporting is a brand new class governed by self-directed learning in which we will be designing a converged newsroom. At least, that’s what the syllabus says. So far, I’m still not sure what we’re doing, except that it will involve multimedia and teamwork. Fun.

• · Consulting at the UF Computing Help Desk
• · Updating and upgrading the Citizen Access Project Web site
• · Writing a weekly post for Angela Grant’s News Videographer blog
• · and of course, keeping up my own blog!

I know that looks like a lot of work, but I’m confident that I can get it all done with my usual determination and of course, endless bottles of Mountain Dew.

The beginning has passed, and I just have to keep going.

I decided not to take a class for this second half of the summer, so that I can concentrate on my three jobs and 465 personal projects (like redesigning this Web site).

While I am appreciating the extra free time, I miss class. So I thought this would be a good time to write about some of the classes I’ve taken and what I got out of them.

I’ll write about Editing, Advanced Online Media Production, Applied Fact Finding and more, including some non-journalism courses that I think contributed to where I am today.

In the meantime, students, journalists and teachers: What was your favorite class in college and why?

The obligatory end-of-semester post:

This semester has been the most fun and the most challenging so far. I spiced up my CSS skillz and learned enough Flash to be able to produce a good amount of what’s already being done as well as to push my myself further. I learned a lot about design, and am pursuing further studies on my own. I learned the value of a budget. I took driving lessons and will be getting my license and a car very soon. I made some very important connections to people in my department, people who can teach me and connect me with other VIPs. I had just enough free time to keep my head from exploding, but not so much that boredom got me into trouble.

I lined up two summer jobs that will add some experience to my resume so that I can get a great internship and then a great job. I will still be working at the Help Desk, but I also joined the new media department at the Independent Florida Alligator and will be updating and redesigning the Citizen Access Project Web site. I’m also taking an advanced editing course.

Having invested so much of myself in learning Flash and upgrading my coding abilities in the last few months, I’m eager to revisit storytelling and learn how to combine multimedia technology with extraordinary reporting. I don’t know if I’ll get that chance this summer, but I definitely will in the fall.

As all students do, I worry about how prepared I will be come graduation, to take a job in my field. Unlike many other majors, however, journalism is changing, and fast. So are the required skills.

Mindy McAdams, Ryan Sholin and Howard Owens, among many others, have blogged about the changing skill set of journalists.

Others in the field or education have reinforced basic reporting skills and ethics.

Maybe I’m paranoid, but it seems to me that, even having taken all the right classes and learned all the right things, getting a job will still be a challenge.

I got into journalism halfway through college. Many of my peers have had multiple internships; I haven’t even had one. Not that I don’t want to, or don’t think I can, but my circumstances have been such that I either wasn’t ready or I couldn’t afford to add an internship to a difficult semester.

Now, with (officially) a year left, panic sets in. I’ve several opportunities open to me, and my first thought is to try to take them all at once. A job at school that will expose me to the field. Working at the Independent Florida Alligator. An internship at The Gainesville Sun.

I know that, in addition to classes and my 20-hour work week, taking all three opportunities at once is a recipe for a psychotic break. What I don’t know is how to narrow down my options to what will be most beneficial to my career. Where will I learn more? Where will I get the most experience?

In response to the challenge:

I have and continue to develop my own Web site: MeganTaylor: Jill of All Trades

I use Google Reader to keep track of over 100 blogs and news Web sites.

Obviously, I maintain a blog. However, I do have trouble making time to comment on other blogs. (New Year’s Resolution #34)

I walk around with a digital camera and my phone, which also captures photos, video and audio.

Oh yea, and I’m taking Mindy McAdams’s class at UF. Heh.

What are you doing to get the job?

Learn how to make Web pages, shoot video, gather and edit audio, read, write and comment on blogs. In other words, produce content. Make yourself visible online, not just as a person, but as a journalist.

Choose an RSS reader and use it! Find out what other people are doing and what they want to know about.

As Mindy McAdams reminds us, the future of Journalism is now, and it’s online. Newspapers are reworking their newsrooms and budgets to develop strong online presences. Keep up, or be left behind.