Journalists David Furst and Stephanie Kaye from WAMU's "Metro Connection" discussed the maddening deadlines, poor pay and rewarding work that are all part of being journalists at Monday's Society of Professional Journalists' (SPJ) coffee talk.
Furst said that the key to becoming successful as a journalist was to "be prepared to do everything, work for nothing and generally be indispensable."
Kaye, who joined WAMU after being in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia and Morocco, said that not studying journalism didn't stop her from working at WAMU, because "good writing skills can be funneled into anything you're doing."
Furst said that his degree in journalism was especially useful because of the ethics classes that are part of every journalism curriculum. However, he agreed that hands-on training could be more useful in a work environment than a graduate degree.
Regarding commercial radio versus public radio, Furst said that public radio takes a more careful stand on issues and doesn't have the "fanatical up-to-the- minute updates" that are the hallmark of commercial news radio.
Furst said that the key to getting a broadcast journalism job was to be willing to "take crummy shifts at 3 a.m. on a Sunday morning, because no one wants to work those hours."
"Be prepared to take a job that isn't exactly what you wanted, because it will give you the chance to get in and move up," Furst said.
Regarding the supposedly tenuous relationship between journalists and public relations people, Furst said that while he doesn't look down on PR people, he frequently rejects story ideas that they send in, because he has to judge a story purely on its newsworthiness.
Kaye added that while both journalism and PR require good writing skills, "PR involves writing for your employer, whereas journalism involves writing for the public."
Ashley Bleimes, president of the SPJ, said that the purpose of the coffee talks is "for AU students interested in journalism to learn about it in an informal setting, from people who are experts in the field."
The coffee talks are held five to six times a semester, and speakers range from professors to print and broadcast journalists. Previous guest speakers include professor Amy Eisman and professor Rodger Streitmatter.
SPJ's next guest speaker will be Stephanie Nazzaro Blake, an Associated Press journalist.
