Ability to find scoops, tell stories leads to journalism jobs

During a time when multimedia skills are becoming increasingly important in journalism, the ability to find and tell stories remains central to finding a job in the profession, a panel of journalists said at a National Press Club event on April 17.

“I want to stress the importance of being able to have scoops,” Amy Fiscus, national security editor at The New York Times, told an audience of 150 people in the ballroom. “That is by far the thing that we are looking for the most, and it’s really, really hard to come by. There aren’t that many people who can do it.”

Fiscus, part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize earlier this week for coverage of Russian interference in the U.S. election, was one of five journalists who participated in a program entitled “Journalism Job Search – Tips from the Top” sponsored by the Club’s Events and Young Members teams.

Writing skill is another key factor that editors seek.

“Whatever role you’re doing, whether it’s a text reporter or audio or video, whatever it is, you will be doing a lot of writing,” said Sudeep Reddy, managing editor at Politico. “Much of the writing that we see when we are vetting applicants is horrific. You need to really think about how is your writing, how do you improve your writing and how do you display your writing for people to recognize how you deploy those journalistic skills.”

One way to demonstrate writing ability is through a cover letter, said Shawna Thomas, Washington bureau chief of Vice News.

“I want to see that they know how to tell a story, and that story is about yourself,” Thomas said.

She used herself as an example. In a cover letter to “Meet the Press,” she explained how she and her mother would stay home from church and watch the show. She went on to be hired by the program.

With all of journalism developing a multimedia orientation, Thomas said that shooting and editing video is a skill that translates beyond television newsrooms.

“In the current landscape, the ability to be multifaceted in that way makes you attractive to any online publication,” she said.

Having a wide range of skills is helpful to finding a job, but so is developing a deep body of knowledge about a particular issue or beat.

“In Washington, we have tons of agencies, tons of policies, tons of nuanced issues that people deal with every day,” said Brody Mullins, a Wall Street Journal reporter. “If you can become an expert in one of those areas, no matter how small, you can move up through other papers because they’ll always need someone who has that skill.”

No matter how much talent or expertise aspiring reporters have, it may take them a while to land a job. Reddy stayed in contact with the Wall Street Journal for years before he was hired there.

“You should be playing the long game with whatever you do,” Reddy said.

Playing the long game requires making contacts.

“Talk to people not to find a job, but to talk about journalism,” said Swati Sharma, deputy editor of The Atlantic.com. “That really helps when you’re trying to take a risk and try something different in journalism. When you really do want that advice, you’re not just knocking on Sudeep’s door when you need a job.”

Reddy endorsed the idea of building networks.

“The National Press Club was the first network I joined when I came to Washington,” he said.

The Club used the job-hunting program as a recruiting tool. Club staff offered tours at the conclusion of the event.

The idea for the evening grew out of a conversation between Reddy, Sharma and Suzanne Struglinski, the Club’s director of membership engagement, in February during a South Asian Journalists Association happy hour in the Reliable Source.