Employment Found as an East Michigan University Journalism Major

Graduating in April, 2005 from Eastern Michigan University with a B.A., majoring in Journalism, I felt adequately prepared to enter the world of professional writing. But with a shortage of jobs due to a recession, and a transition to online news, job searching was even more difficult than usual. Here is an in-depth look describing how I utilized my degree to work within my field of study.

Internship-The Record

From a job posting listed on annarbor.craigslist.org/wri/, I learned of an available internship with The Record, a print magazine covering music news in the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti area. Receiving that internship, I worked from March to December of 2007, first under Dorothy Hernandez (Associate Editor), then Joe Giuliani (Publisher). During the course of my employment, I performed research, fact-checking, proofreading and writing.

I eventually had two articles published with The Record. "The kids run this show" profiled Youth Owned Records, a youth-oriented record label located in Ann Arbor. "Planet Drum-A drummers world" was a Business Spotlight piece about Planet Drum, a music store in Center Line which sells drums, various percussion instruments, instructional music books, and DVDs.

Working for The Record was a positive experience, but I decided to leave the publication in order to search for paid employment.

Associated Content

Many freelance writing opportunities are posted throughout the Internet. While exploring these opportunities, I discovered Associated Content (www.associatedcontent.com), a website platform in which anyone is able to publish original text, video, audio or images about any topic. According to this website's About Us page, "Contributors benefit in three major ways beyond the opportunity to publish: fair payment compensation, online discoverability and distribution through our partner sites." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, reports that there is also an online community where users share their expertise, network and voice opinions.

Payments by AC, delivered monthly and processed via PayPal, are given as Upfront Payment ($2-$15, after review and offer), Performance Payments (unlimited revenue, generated by page views), and advertised payment listed on the Assignment Desk. On AC's Earning Money page, it is written that Featured Contributors have access to top-dollar assignments for AssociatedContent.com and partner sites (these assignments typically pay between $10 and $100 upfront). AC accepts content under three different licenses: Exclusive (Content can only be submitted to AC, and is eligible for upfront and performance payments.), Non-Exclusive (Content can be re-published elsewhere, with first rights to AC, and is eligible for upfront and performance payments.), and Display Only (Content is considered Non-Exclusive, but not eligible for upfront payment.). People must be over 18 years old to receive payment. In an article published by AC, C.D. Crowder writes that Associated Content only pays through PayPal and only to United States citizens.

Since my membership with the site began on February 10, 2008, I contributed 15 pieces of original content. Collectively, I have reached over 17,000 page views, a clout level of 6, and over thirty dollars in payment.

Community Television Network

Originally through a printed advertisement, I learned that free video production training was available to Ann Arbor residents and Ann Arbor Non-Profit Organizations through Community Television Network (www.a2ctn.org), a local television station covering channels 16 (The Meeting Place), 17 (Public Access), 18 (Education Station), and 19 (Community). Deciding to enroll in this training, given as workshop classes held inside the station at night, I successfully completed CTN's Studio Workshop (March 4, 2009), Hotline Studio Workshop (March 25, 2009), Edit Workshop (May 13, 2009), and Remote Camera Workshop (July 22, 2009). With the completion of these workshops, I earned the ability to create my own productions to broadcast through CTN. On December 3, 2009 I participated in the video taping of an interview I created for "Access Ann Arbor." This is a 30 minute program providing citizens and non-profit organizations of Ann Arbor with the opportunity to voice an opinion, provide information, or promote an event. According to the CTN website, Access Ann Arbor can be seen on CTN 17 - Public Access.

Internship-Wall Street Cheat Sheet

In September of 2009, I received an email from my younger sister, consisting of an advertisement for employment with Wall St. Cheat Sheet (wallstcheatsheet.com), a financial media website. It is written on the About Us page, "We provide the highest quality education and information for active investors and financial professionals." My response led to an internship, working under Damien Hoffman (Editor-in-Chief), to transcribe audio interviews, help with editorial tasks, and eventually write posts. Since January of 2010, I have written a series of posted travel articles, each describing the amenities of a specific destination. Currently, the work I am doing is unpaid. However, there is promise of payment in the future, and I am gaining experience and exposure.

Future Plans

My future plans are to continue publishing with AC, participate in further video productions with CTN, and earn the ability for payment with Wall St. Cheat Sheet.

Sources

1.) Associated Content, "About Associated Content" Associated Content

2.) Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, "Associated Content" Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

3.) Associated Content, "Performance Pay" Associated Content

4.) C.D. Crowder, "Understanding Associated Contents Payment System" Associated Content

5.) CTN, "Access Ann Arbor" CITY OF ANN ARBOR

6.) Alexa, "About" WALL ST. CHEAT SHEET