Jeff Zillgitt said one of the toughest things reporters have to come to realize is that you’re not going to become as good as your favorite reporter.

Jeff Zillgitt

But just because that it most likely going to be true, you can still find a place in writing and it’s up to you to find that place. You have to find out what you can do well.

When you’re covering a beat, you don’t want to miss a story. You might get beat, but you don’t want to miss it. You want to be aware of when a story breaks and try to confirm that the story is true. You don’t want to get a call from your boss asking if you knew something happened, and not have an answer.

The best thing for a reporter is to be out in the field. People get to see you and you see them and they get to recognize who you are, so that the next time you try to contact them they may recognize you.

You have to tell the truth, but be fair, even if you’re critical. Players and coaches don’t typically hold a grudge, as long as you don’t write mean for the sake of being mean.

When people talk about the demise of newspaper, they’re not talking about the demise of journalism. Journalism will always be around. People crave information. The problem is the economic model of the newspaper.

Even if you don’t go into journalism, employers love having people who know how to get information: people who ask questions and have resources.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 29th, 2011 at 2:52 pm and is filed under Guest Speakers.  Tagged Jeff Zillgitt, Journalism, Media, NBA, Reporter, USA Today You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.