How-to for the Iowa State Daily
From Rofflehaus
Want to get published or work for the Iowa State Daily? Here's how to:
Contents |
[edit] ...get a job as a reporter
This is typically the easiest job to get, because the Daily is usually chronically short of reliable reporters. Basically, just go to the Hamilton Hall office and tell the news editor you are interested in writing. Extra points if you cite a field of interest or expertise. Bring a resume too, but really, writing experience isn't the main requirement, enthusiasm is. Leave your contact info, and at some point in the near future, you'll get a call about doing a story that none of the main reporters have time to do. It will typically be something straightforward: the Daily received a press release from a department talking about some great research or invention, and so they need someone to interview the professor, find out more about the topic, and maybe contact a few outside sources or experts. Do well, and expect to have Daily editors calling you day and night to do stories.
The payrate is $1 an inch. You don't get paid until you've done five stories. Though after you've done five stories, you get paid for the first five that you did.
You can apply to be a reporter anytime, though it may work best in the middle of the semester. By this time, most of the JL MC 202 students who are forced to write for the Daily have flaked out, and the editors are scrambling for new writers.
This applies to just about any type of reporter. For sports reporting, don't expect to get to cover football or basketball or any of the other big sports. Also, don't try to write for a beat in which you have a conflict of interest, i.e. don't offer to write for the rugby team if you are on the team.
[edit] ...be a columnist
Being a columnist is one of the easiest ways to get known on campus, besides being a top-drawer athlete or doing something infamous. Since the opinion section is the most well-read section in the paper and your face is attached to the column, you become much more recognizable and popular than a typical reporter, especially if you're a complete idiot.
The best time to apply is the last stretch of the semester (the last month or so) when the Daily is looking to fill positions for next semester. Not only will you have to fill out the typical employee application, but you will have to submit two sample columns; shoot for 600 words (see section on how-to write a good column).
The editor is looking for a balance of writers across the political spectrum. Since there is traditionally a scarcity of writers of the right-wing bent, you could write like total idiot and get column space if you have conservative views (that's affirmative action for you). Writers who can do local topics get extra points — but only if it's pertinent to ISU and ISU students would actually care to read it. Also, the opinion editor will be looking for at least one off-beat columnist to break up the monotony of political rant and self-important musings that typically fill the opinion section — shoes that haven't been filled properly since Jon Crosbie, although Ethan Newlin had his fair share of actually funny columns.
[edit] ...get a photographer gig
Again, apply during the time in which the Daily is looking to hire for next semester. You will have to submit a portfolio of your past work if you want any chance at getting a spot. The Daily infrequently prints nature/wildlife photos, so submitting a bunch of pictures of your cat with a sepia filter will not impress the photo editor. If you don't have a photojournalism background, though, it's likely pictures of animals and trees and desolate railroad tracks are all that you have. In that case, make sure your portfolio has variety, to show that you can do the long, sweeping shot as well as the quirky, close-up shot. Also, have photos of action. And photos of people that are not posed.
Keep in mind that being a photojournalist is more than being a good photographer, just as being a journalist is much more than being a writer. Typically, besides taking photos, you'll have to do some on-the-spot reporting to fill the captions with something besides "Here's Joe Blow standing outside central campus on Tuesday." And the best photos come from the photog doing research and pre-reporting to discover where the best opportunity for a photo lies. So showing the photo editor that you have journalistic instincts will put you above the artsy photogs who apply.
The Daily has gone all digital with its photography, so darkroom experience is not needed. In fact, you don't even need to know how to use their expensive Canon cameras; they'll teach you.
[edit] ...get a reviewing gig
Everyone wants to write reviews, and there is so little space for it. If you have a good background with good clips, apply. Otherwise, try to befriend/sleep with someone in the A&E department. Or, apply as a reporter or other Daily position, show people that you are a dedicated and talented writer, and make the lateral shift to being a A&E reviewer.
[edit] ...get a letter published
First and foremost, space in the Daily is limited. So even if you write a beautiful 600-word piece, it's very likely the opinion editor will jettison it rather than take the time to cut it down for you (and typically, you do NOT want someone else deciding for you want your actual point was.) So be short and concise. Writing on a local issue will get you big points. Writing in an incendinary fashion will also increase your chances of getting published.
Here's the perfect storm of letters: Letter: You look like a whore (Iowa State Daily: 08/30/2000)
It is sometimes suggested that the Daily picks the most absolute controversial letters to publish, just so people will have a good reason to pick up the paper. This is partially true--a good opinion editor likes to rile up his/her readers. But more to the point: the Daily is not usually inundated with letters. The few people who take the time to write a letter often are more extreme/passionate in their views, and since the Daily sometimes doesn't have enough letters or columns to fill a particular issue...the crackpots get their day.
[edit] ...not write a shitty column
If you're applying for a columnist position, you'll have to write a good sample column to be hired. Actually, you'll just have to do non-shittily, because far and away, most people who apply (and get hired) do not pass this standard. And to no fault of their own: column writing is a unique form of writing that for which no other type of writing will prepare you (and non-shittily is hard to do). Column writing requires you to:
- do the extensive background research of a term paper
- keep tabs on all recent developments about the subject as you would for a news article
- provide a reason for the reader to care
- boil all this down to 600 words or fewer
Reason no. 3 is typically why English majors are the most horrible of column writers. For some reason, being able to write about the existentialism of Beowulf in iambic pentameter does not translate into being able to write an interesting, compelling column...and the main reason is because the audience for a term paper is a professor who is paid to give a shit, whereas the audience for the column is not.
So, in short, here are some key guidelines to writing a good sample column, and hopefully great columns in the future:
- Show, don't tell
- Focus on a small example, then move into the big picture, but always take little bites. Similarly, local angles are good — only when anyone gives a shit
- Don't talk about yourself or use yourself as an authority, unless you are an interesting person...and if you are like most ISU students, you are not. In fact, don't even bother using the words "I" or "me" under 99.999% of circumstances
- Just because you care about something doesn't mean your readers automatically will; cater to them, not your Vegan support group
- Don't fall in love with your own writing — if you think it's that great, you're probably making a lot of mistakes
Failure to meet all of the above rules will result in a column like this.
