Editor’s note: Joe Swickard wrote the story and Eric Seals created the stunning video for this Detroit Free Press package on the first African-American Marines. It’s a great example of how video enhances a news story. It also demonstrates the reason we as displaced journalists need to develop digital media skills. On Oct. 25 the U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously to grant the Montford Point Marines our nation’s highest civilian honor, the congressional gold medal; the Senate takes up the measure Thursday of this week. — Susan Older

Now in their late 80s the 1st Black Marines known as Montford Marines talk about their experiences fighting in WWII while still being discriminated against. They are on the verge of getting Congressional Gold Medals. Eric Seals/Detroit Free Press

By Joe Swickard
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

More than 16 million Americans answered the call to arms in World War II. Of those, 600,000 were the few, the proud, the Marines.

Then there were the Chosen Few, men such as metro Detroiters Calvin Moore, Robert Hassler, Earl Hood, William Cook, Edsel Stallings, Norfflette Mersier and about 20,000 other Montford Point Marines.

After years of discrimination, mistreatment and near invisibility postwar, these African-American Marines of World War II are on the verge of getting the Congressional Gold Medal, America’s highest civilian honor.

It’s about time, too, said Hassler, 86, who lied about his age to enlist 70 years ago. “It’s always bothered me — every year for Black History Month, they talk about the Tuskegee Airmen,” Hassler said. “Nobody knows about the Montford Point Marines.”

A Congressional Gold Medal could change that.

Pride still runs deep for Montford Point Marines
In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the armed forces to accept African Americans into their ranks, and the Marine Corps was the last to fall in line. Even then, segregation remained as the black recruits and draftees were trained in their own facility — a patch of land adjacent to Camp Lejeune, N.C., called Montford Point. They were forbidden from entering Camp Lejeune without special authorization.

These men endured top brass hostility, segregated training, scornful treatment and the demeaning belief that they didn’t have the guts, character and discipline to defend their country in combat.

Yet the Montford Point Marines, mainly relegated to service battalions, put their lives on the line: humping ammo and supplies under fire and bringing the wounded to safety while being strafed, sniped, bombed and blasted as the Marines island-hopped through the Pacific toward Japan.

And their pride endures today.

With probably fewer than 300 of them still alive…. Read the rest of the story at The Detroit Free Press.

August 4, 2011

By Susan Older, Founder of Displaced Journalists and Real World Media

I refuse to give up on the journalism profession. I refuse to give up on displaced journalists, either. Not just the people in our Displaced Journalists community here on the Web, on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, but all journalists who can’t find a place where they belong anymore.

We need to reinvent our profession to keep good journalism alive.

Our society depends upon a free and vigilant press. It is a fundamental building block of our democracy.

• It provides citizens with the news and information they need to make their lives safer, easier, happier and more fulfilling.

• It gives citizens the comfort of knowing someone is out there looking after their interests.

• It provides the fundamental role of ensuring an informed electorate.

• It holds accountable the officials citizens elect at the polls.

Why is journalism broken? We all know the answer: It’s money. It’s not the Internet. It’s the lack of revenue models for both print and online news and information operations.

Only Steve Jobs has hit on a real revenue model. The App Store is brilliant, but it appears publishers who try to sell their content as apps will get only a small bite of the Apple – too little for sustenance. We need to think about how we could emulate that model without giving our product away.

We need to determine who will pay for quality content. I believe the demand still exists.

We need to restore citizens’ trust in the news they read and the journalists who report it. We can do this. The solution lies in getting the best and the brightest back to work and in a position to mentor young journalists, to pass on the mojo, the dedication, the ethical standards and the devotion to excellence that once defined our profession.

I propose a revolutionary solution to save journalism and journalists.

Real World Media.

It is a big idea and it will require serious funding. Can it be done? Absolutely. Can I do it alone? Of course not. We need help and we need funding. I do believe, though, that it is a start.

We must pose the question of how to find buyers for quality content. Let’s give it a shot. Let’s come together to devise a plan that will improve as it evolves. We need solutions that address the concerns of citizens of local, state, national and global communities. Let’s be realistic: globalization has changed the rules of the game. Almost all of the things we cover are playing out to some degree on a global scale.

So what is the future of journalism? How can we address these issues.

Real World Media: What is it? Why participate?

Real World Media is designed to be the first location-based (think FourSquare), mobile-device-driven global news web. It will provide tailored news and information coverage by top-notch, vetted reporters, photojournalists and news videographers who are already at or near the scene – and top notch editors who interact with these journalists and fine-tune their work.

Real World Media will provide journalists with the work they haven’t been able to find and the respect they deserve. Journalists will be paid fairly and immediately (think PayPal) – a rare occurrence for freelancers in the wake of our industry’s massive job losses.

Journalists will be associated with the best and the brightest colleagues – reporters, editors, photojournalists and news videographers – all of them drawn to Real World Media because it’s a prestigious, trusted network and it’s their best chance of getting fair compensation for a job well done.

The editorial board of Real World Media will screen journalists who seek to be part of its global network. Journalists who have the right stuff will start receiving assignments once it’s up and running. Journalists who don’t make the cut right away will be referred to customized training and performance-improvement solutions to help them qualify at a later date.

The first step in any new venture is to look at it from the point of view of the customer. Of course, this has always been the case for journalists. We’ve been trained to make coverage decisions based on what our readers want. I have always referred to this as the “what does it mean to me” factor. Readers didn’t subscribe to newspapers unless they delivered news and information that directly affected their lives. How can we make our coverage so good that readers or users will pay for it online? It’s a tough question, but we must come with a solution. We can’t just give up.

What about coverage of “what they need to know”? Yes, we’ve always done that, too, because the great thing about newspapers was that readers stumbled upon things they couldn’t have predicted they would want to read. It was serendipity. That’s something we’ve lost to varying degrees as news and information migrated to online sites. Now users tend to go to the sites that reflect their specific interests or views. Real World Media will offer engaging enterprise stories, photos and video designed to put the serendipity back into news sites.

What keeps Real World Media customers up at night?

Entrepreneurs in every field look for the “pain point.” They ask the question: “What keeps our potential customers up at night?” If they can’t answer that question, they need to go back to square one and figure it out.

Let’s look at our potential customers’ needs and address them as if we were speaking directly to them.

This is a sample scenario:

You are a managing editor at a news and information operation – either print or online. You have dismissed more of your staff than you knew was wise. You did it because, financially, you believed you had no choice. You or your publisher felt it was necessary to trim the budget to stay in business. Unfortunately, you got rid of the best and the most experienced journalists because their salaries were the highest.

Now you’re looking at a decimated newsroom and a big story breaks – one that directly affects your readers and your community. It could be floods, drought, and forest fires. It could be corruption in your local police department or city hall. It could be a scandal, playing out in Washington, one that involves local or state officials. It could be a story about a local military man or woman engaged in battle half way around the world. You want to cover these things, and you want the local angle, probably with photos and video, but you don’t have a staffer to spare.

What do you do?

• Do you send a journalist, possibly insufficiently experienced, to deal with a difficult assignment, bagging the important story he or she was working on before you had to shift gears?

• Do you resign yourself to using a wire service story, knowing that they are extremely unlikely to give you the local angle and that the same story will appear everywhere else?

• Do you call a freelancer whom you may not know? Are you confident he or she will get to the scene on time? Are they any good? Do you need to find a photojournalist or news videographer, as well?

• How much time can you afford to spend setting this coverage in motion?

You get the point. No matter what you do, you rob your readers of one thing to give them another. That hurts. You never had to make this tradeoff in the past. You once had a good and sizable staff that was capable of doing it all and doing it all well. Your newsroom ran smoothly – okay, as smoothly as possible. You could afford to take time lining up freelancers around the world for a big story, and once you did that you had a big enough staff to assign your own reporters to get the local angle.

Readers were loyal because you gave them news and information that truly affected their lives – their children, healthcare, family budgets, safety, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, housing, etc. When it came to investigative reporting or breaking news coverage that affected your readers anywhere around the globe, you gave readers your best. Can you do this now, with sparse resources?

Real World Media clients: what we give you

So you decide to become a Real World Media client. Real World Media will provide a simple and affordable solution to the many problems brought about by staff shortages. You will get full coverage without breaking the bank. You, your publisher, your readers and great journalists can all sleep at night.

Real World Media takes your requests and uses cutting edge technology to locate journalists, photographers and videographers around the world to cover the story to your specifications. Maybe it’s a story breaking halfway around the globe, but it affects people from your town, city or state. Real World Media will cover the global and the local angles of the story.

You will pay Real World Media and its journalists well because you know they are worth it and you get what you need from them. Just think about what you once paid your most valuable staff members, the ones you had to dismiss as advertising dwindled and news and information took off into uncharted digital territory.

Real World Media is not designed to take jobs away from working journalists. We’re happy to see journalists working at all. As for jobless journalists, we genuinely hope they will find great jobs again. For now, though, why not tap into their talent and experience through a system you can trust. But let me be clear: Real World Media is not a content mill.

It’s a win-win for everyone. You will save on salary, benefits, travel expenses, and expensive equipment by using the services of Real World Media. Journalists will get what they need by joining the Real World Media network, which ensures that they will be paid fairly and rapidly. As our network grows, we hope to negotiate group rates on benefits such as health care.

Your readers will get what they want, whether it is international or domestic coverage with a community angle or an investigative reporting project right down the road that you cannot begin to staff. It might even be a feature story you just know your readers would enjoy, one that would enrich their lives.

As a client of Real World Media you  will have at least three options:

• You may make a special request for a local angle on any given story. Real World Media journalists will report it for you. This will serve your needs regardless of whether the story is happening inside or outside of your geographic community. It doesn’t matter. You will have the option of informing readers of more than what’s happening. You will tell them exactly what it means to them, with quotes from local citizens and local officials.

• You may request an exclusive story that will not be available or even visible to other clients on the Real World Media site. This will serve your needs if you want an exclusive on a breaking story or if you want a highly qualified team to handle an investigative project or local story that you don’t have the staff to handle.

• You may buy a story that appeals to your audience straight off the Real World Media site. This will serve your needs if you simply want the best possible coverage on an important story. This would serve your needs if you don’t need a local angle and aren’t concerned with exclusivity, but don’t want to run a wire service story identical to the one your competition carries.

Real World Media will run the network. We will find, evaluate and direct the reporters, editors, photographers and videographers. We will have layers of editors – all highly experienced, respected and trustworthy. We will maintain a website featuring synopses of all the stories available for purchase, the price, and the option to negotiate exclusive stories or big stories with local angles.

You will tell us what you need and we will find the best journalists for you. We will use cutting-edge, location-based, mobile technology to stay in touch with journalists (reporters, editors, photographers or videographers) who are at or near the scene and prepared to take the assignment. If another journalist is required to interview people in your community for a local angle, we will provide that service, too.

You will pay a fair price for stories produced by Real World Media’s global network of journalists because you know they are worth it. They will fill the void created when you laid off your best staffers.

Real World Media will charge for the story, the photos or the video you commission from our network of journalists. You will be obligated by contract to buy the assigned story, photos or video, regardless of whether you use it. You will pay more if you decide to alter your original request. Of course, good reporters, photographers and videographers think for themselves and are highly likely to deliver more than you asked for, simply because of the situation they find on the ground when they are in the process of reporting or shooting photos or video.

Real World Media will have a multi-layered network of highly experienced and vetted editors to ensure that customers receive professionally edited products.

None of this is carved in stone. In fact, this is just a jumping off point.

Please join the discussion and add you thoughts on this concept. I am working on the website and marketing materials now. I would love to hear what you think, here on the Displaced Journalists site, on the Real World Media Facebook page, or privately at susanolder@realworldmedia.org. If you have other networking ideas, let’s find a way to implement them.

____________________________________________

Editor’s note: You are reading this on Displaced Journalists, so you may be wondering why I chose to speak to the customer rather than directly to you about this idea I’ve been hatching for the past year. The answer is this: You can see your role as you read this. We need to draw attention to the concept and get customers and funding sources interested. All of the information I’ve come up with thus far is in this piece, except for how we will price stories and how much Real World Media journalists will be able to earn. At this point, I don’t know how much you will earn if we do get funding and this becomes a reality. However, I am devoted to ensuring that journalists are paid fairly. You will be part of the process as we begin to determine rates. In no way will this resemble a content mill. If any of you can offer your programming, design or marketing skills for the cause, I can certainly use them. I have no funding at this point, and, of course, Displaced Journalists has never been about making money.

– Susan Older

By Jules Older

When you’re out of work, or, put more genteelly, underemployed, what do you do with your newfound leisure time?

Jules Older

By ‘leisure time,’ I mean time nobody’s paying you to use.

Everybody’s different in needs, time, mortgages and inclination, but I know what’s working for me. In hopes that some of it will work for you, here goes:

Learn new stuff. The new stuff I’m learning is videography. As the world grows more visual and more digital, it will be increasingly usefulblahblahblah.

That’s likely true, but the real reason I’m learning it is that I want to. I love it. I love watching my skills grow from naught to naught half bad. You can judge for yourself at http://www.YouTube.com/julesolder.

I’ve had three great aids in learning to shoot and edit.

One is a tiny, cheap, incredibly versatile Canon camera. I’ve used the pocket-sized Canon SD940 IS to shoot about 30 videos. I still can’t believe how good it is, most especially in low light.

The second is Apple’s iMovie, a tool that comes at no extra charge with every Mac. It’s made for enthusiasts, not professionals, but it’s met or exceeded my needs and desires nearly every time.

Third — maybe first — is the best bargain I’ve found, ever. It’s Apple’s One to One program. When you buy a new Apple computer, you’re given the opportunity to sign up for One to One. Take it.

Costs a hundred bucks for a year. For that hundred, you get to meet with an expert once every week or two to work on any aspect of Macology you like. Just about everything I know about videography, I’ve learned at the Chestnut Street Apple Store. Costs me, oh, $1.50 an hour.

Do good things. Last time I was in New Zealand, the earth moved. It moved in Christchurch, which experienced its first quake ever. This time, a few short days after I got off the plane, Christchurch had its second. And this was the big one.

On the theory that it might be me, I did what I could to ameliorate the horror. Through my Jokers list, I kept friends and relatives up to date on our safety, our friends, and what was happening in Christchurch. Because I’m a member of Ski Club of International Journalists, I did the same with the 200 or so media mavens I’d met only the week before. I used both lists to raise funds for the victims.

And I volunteered to go to Christchurch. I volunteered three times to three organizations. And while none took me up on it, I couldn’t have even made the offer if I’d been gainfully employed.

Stay in touch. The Christchurch quake was only one way of many I’ve been in closer touch with friends and colleagues since those monthly checks stopped rolling in. I’ve used the down time to pick up lapsed relationships and to start new ones. That’s been nice.

Hasn’t always worked out the way I planned, though. When I left a message for an old friend who’d moved to L.A. asking if he was ok, he admitted “My first thought was — what’s he want?”

I suggested he’d been in Los Angeles too long.

Hard times roll. Renewing my freelance ‘career’ has reminded me how bloody hard freelancing really is. For instance, from New Zealand I wrote what I think was a pretty fine op-ed piece about the quake, Why it’s good it happened here. Sent it to, oh, seven or eight papers and three magazines in five countries. My hometown paper didn’t bother replying — thanks a lot, San Francisco Chronicle. Others said no, not for us. In the end, one paper and one magazine took variations on it, but it was hard yakka getting the thing sold.

That’s all, folks… except for one thing. Remember: Life is what’s left when you’re out of work. Better learn — or re-learn — to enjoy it.

— jules

Jules Older (amazingly, no relation to Displaced Journalists Founder Susan Older) is a freelance travel writer, the author of children’s books, the creator of the iPhone app San Francisco Restaurants, a speaker, a broadcaster and a consultant. Learn more about Jules here. To become a Lifeguard, just drop Jules a line at jules@julesolder.com, saying, “I’m a writer.  Sign me up!”

Editor’s note: We have plenty of members of the Displaced Journalists community who work at news operations (online or print) and  fear they won’t keep their jobs unless they  boost their digital and multimedia skills. This Maynard Institute month-long fellowship is  a great opportunity to get that training. — Susan Older

Multimedia Editing Fellowships Available

Who should apply
:

This program is ideal for editors and reporters who want to sharpen their multimedia skills, journalists who work on Web sites and design and graphic editors who want editing training.

Program Cost
:

$6,000, which includes tuition and housing and some meals.

Fellowships

Twelve fellowships to attend the Maynard Institute’s Multimedia Editing Program are made possible by a three-year grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.

To be eligible for the Reynolds Fellowship, you must work at a U.S.-based newspaper with a circulation of 50,000 or below. Journalists who work for online operations of such newspapers are also eligible to apply.

The fellowship covers tuition, housing and some meals, and includes a travel stipend of up to $500. There are no exceptions to the eligibility requirement.

Twelve fellowships to attend the Maynard Institute’s Multimedia Editing Program are available to journalists from small and medium size publications. The fellowships are made possible by a three-year grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. 

Fellowship applications are invited from journalists who work at U.S.-based newspapers with circulation of 50,000 and below. Journalists who work for online operations of such newspapers are welcome to apply.

Since 1979, the Maynard Institute has trained journalists of color to become editors and Web site editors, helped assignment editors improve their copy editing skills, and prepared news professionals for supervisory roles. This program has produced effective newsroom leaders of all races who can promote team work, introduce and manage change, and improve the quality of journalism.

Like all Maynard programs, the Multimedia Editing Program is open to people of all races.

The month-long Multimedia Editing Program runs during summer, 2011 at the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno. The program will equip participants to help their news organizations build a robust online presence and strengthen the print product.

Instruction will be in-depth and hands-on and cover the breadth of digital media tools: video, audio, blogging, slideshows, tagging, databases, basic HTML, analyzing the success of your Web strategy, using social networking to draw more people to your site and an overview of content management systems.

Skills will be taught in segments that build upon each other. The length of the program will allow participants to do more than simply touch upon each skill. At the Multimedia Editing program, participants will have time for practice, critique and improvement, giving them a working knowledge that can be applied immediately. As always, strong copy editing skills, including headline writing for print and online, and design will be emphasized throughout the program.

Apply here.

If you have questions, contact Evelyn Hsu, program director, at Ehsu@maynardije.org or Elisabeth Pinio, manager for outreach, at 510-891-9202 or epinio@maynardije.org.

Jan. 14, is the deadline for applications to attend The Knight Digital Media Center (in partnership with the USC Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, and the Online Journalism Review) News Entrepreneur Boot Camp to be held May 15-20, 2011, at the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, in Los Angeles, CA. This intense one-week boot camp plus six-week online learning program is designed for 20 competitively selected digital entrepreneurs with great ideas for community news and information initiatives in the public interest.

Topics to be covered included:

•    Identifying the best business model for sustained success.
•    Developing a feasibility plan.
•    Audience development and customer acquisition.
•    Developing and implementing revenue and advertising strategies.
•    Successful social networking models.
•    Understanding and using analytics.

Traditional news organizations are floundering as business models collapse and audiences are increasingly turning to alternative news and information sources. This is the third KDMC@USC boot camp designed for digital journalists and others who are passionate about new ideas for serving the information and news needs of their communities but who lack the grounding in business and start-up skills.

Expert faculty from both academia and the private sector provide intense instruction, coaching and mentoring on developing marketable business plans for building organizations that provide news and information in the public interest.

WHO SHOULD APPLY: Applicants must have demonstrated skill in developing news and information in the public interest (i.e. have produced quality content for publication and provide references for such work). They must commit to completion of a six-week online pre-camp course conducted by the USC Marshall School of Business and complete pre-camp assignments critical to the success of their project. They must be willing to share their project concept and details with fellow boot campers as well as with instructional faculty.

WHEN AND WHERE: May 15-20, 2011, 
University of Southern California
, Los Angeles, CA

COST: Lodging, meals and instruction/coaching plus a subsidy for partial travel are included. In addition, KDMC@USC will provide follow-up mentoring and resources. Successful completion of the course will result in a USC continuing education certificate.

HOW TO APPLY: Applications must be submitted online at http://www.knightdigitalmediacenter.org/boot_camp_applications/.

The online application deadline is January 14, 2011. From these applications a group of semi-finalists will be selected by January 28. They will be asked to complete an assignment related to their start up projects by February 25. Final boot camp participants will be named by March 7.

DEADLINE: Friday, January 14, 2011

QUESTIONS: Please contact, Vikki Porter, Director, Knight Digital Media Center at vporter@usc.edu or 213-821-0071.

Displaced Journalists’ partner Knowledgewebb is planning another free webinar. “Getting Started: Mobile Reporting and Publishing” is the topic, and it’s scheduled for this Wednesday, Aug. 25 at 2 p.m. EDT.

You don’t need to be a member of Knowledgewebb to participate in the webinar. However, if you haven’t considered joining, remember that our partnership with Knowledgewebb gives you a 30 percent discount on the yearly membership fee. Knowledgewebb helps you master the skills you need to succeed in today’s digital media environment. We partnered with Knowledgewebb because it is some of the best training around at an extremely fair price. To get the discount, join using our Displaced Journalists partner code: DISPLACED.

The webinar, which runs from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. (EDT), will teach you how to produce and publish rich multimedia stories, interactive slideshows, even audio broadcasts in real time on your iPhone, Blackberry, Palm or Android.

If you participated in “10 Steps to a Tech-Savvy You,” an Aug. 5 webinar celebrating our partnership with Knowledgewebb, you already know how much you can learn in one hour. As always, attendees will receive notes, worksheets and a list of recommended tools.

This free webinar is sponsored by another Knowledgewebb media partner: Freelance Success.

You must have pre-registered and received a confirmation message from Knowledgewebb to participate in this session. Click here to register. There are only 500 virtual “seats” available and they fill up quickly, so go to Knowledgewebb.net and register soon. The webinar is just two days from today.

Way back when — in April, 2009 — I called Writers Lifeguard No. 16, “Mantrae for Our Times.”

Jules Older

It had but four markers of change:

• Screen is the new Paper
• Short is the new Deep
• Pictures are the new Words
• Free is the new Pay

Now, more than a year further into our climb — or plunge — from Gutenberg Era into the Digital Age, I’m ready to add six more

• Canon is the new Nikon (which was once the new Leica)
• Apps are the new Websites
• YouTube is the new Home Movie
• Video is the new Still Photography
• Twitter is the new Pac-Man [Can you guess why?]
• Blogs are the new Poetry. [This time I’ll tell you why. Both are written by many, read by few.]

And so the world turns.

If you have other new mantrae (mantrae being the plural of mantra) to add, shoot ‘em my way. And tell me — are we climbing into sunshine or plunging into darkness?

Jules

– 30 –

Jules Older (amazingly, no relation to Susan Older) is a freelance travel writer, the author of children’s books, the creator of the iPhone app San Francisco Restaurants, a speaker, a broadcaster and a consultant. Learn more about Jules here. To become a Lifeguard, just drop Jules a line at jules@julesolder.com, saying, “I’m a writer. Sign me up!”

If you didn’t catch Thursday’s Knowledgewebb webinar “10 Steps to a Tech Savvy You,” you will find it through Aug. 20 posted here.

All of the notes and links are up there, too, so you can grab those if you didn’t take notes during the webinar.

More than 300 of us were online for the webinar — sponsored by Displaced Journalists in celebration of our partnership with the premier digital media training provider. Aside from the 10 steps — and critical websites, social networks and gear — to help you become more tech savvy, Knowledgewebb CEO Amy Webb gave us all a primer on how to manage information overload. It all follows the Knowledgewebb tagline: Don’t sweat the tech!

While you’re on the Knowledgewebb site, check out the offerings. If you reach the KW site through Displaced Journalists, you get 30 percent off the price of a year of unlimited training in digital media tools and entrepreneurial skills. Just go to the Knowledgewebb site and use the discount code: DISPLACED.

Learn and enjoy. — Susan Older

]]> http://displacedjournalists.com/2010/08/07/missed-the-dpj-sponsored-knowledgewebb-webinar/feed/ 0 http://displacedjournalists.com/2010/07/28/take-your-skills-with-you/ http://displacedjournalists.com/2010/07/28/take-your-skills-with-you/#comments Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:55:17 +0000 Susan Older http://displacedjournalists.com/?p=463 By Michael Gauger For nearly 20 years, I was a newspaper copy editor in Milwaukee, where I was born and grew up. But in the last few years, the Journal Sentinel had been cutting its staff through buyouts. In the summer of ’09, a round of buyouts didn’t yield enough cuts for the company, and in [...]]]>

By Michael Gauger

For nearly 20 years, I was a newspaper copy editor in Milwaukee, where I was born and grew up. But in the last few years, the Journal Sentinel had been cutting its staff through buyouts. In the summer of ’09, a round of buyouts didn’t yield enough cuts for the company, and in August I was laid off, among dozens in the newsroom who lost their jobs.

One year later, I’m happy to report, I have landed in a rewarding position: grant officer/writer for the Columbia St. Mary’s Foundation, which cultivates philanthropic support for the healthcare system serving the Milwaukee area.  When I told this to Susan Older, whose Displaced Journalists online community shines light in a gloomy time for journalism and employment, she urged me to write about it, to show out-of-work journalists that we should and could survive, even in a wretched economy. So I’m writing this for Susan, for my friend and fellow writer Julie Weber, who writes a blog that I recommend  (Tales from an Unemployed Interior Designer ) – and for you.

I knew that I could do the job with the foundation. And I wanted to do the job, as I would be writing applications for grants to support programs such as free health clinics for the poor. I would be telling important stories about a vital resource, and how it could be brought to people who lacked access to it. Like journalism, the foundation would call on my communications skills to comfort the afflicted. For me, it was the right opportunity at the right time.

Yes, before making that case and getting the job, I needed to hear numerous résumé critiques and make revisions, to do lots of networking and to profit from luck. Most important, however, was that I could talk about significant transferable skills from journalism: writing, editing, research, working on my own and as a member of a team to meet deadlines. (That set complemented one from my background as a scholar in American history and political science.)

Earlier, I had put those skills to work for scholars who had me edit their grant applications. More recently, I used the tools in volunteer work for two nonprofit groups. I sought out the work after getting excellent advice from a grant officer who was kind enough to give me an informational interview. Build a track record, he said. So I did some cold-calling, got a lead from a networking contact, consulted websites listing volunteer opportunities, and found Make a Difference – Wisconsin and Daystar Inc. The former recruits and trains volunteer instructors who present seminars on basic financial literacy (how to handle credit, make a budget and manage a checking account, for example) to teenagers. The latter operates a long-term shelter for women who are recovering from domestic violence. My work for these groups was very gratifying because it enhanced my credentials and references, showed initiative, gave me a chance to do some good work, and allowed me to add nonprofit experience on my résumé.

In the meantime, I was taking courses at Milwaukee Area Technical College for a certificate in information design and publishing: introduction to digital media, website development, Photoshop and InDesign. The coursework was a step toward another important credential (I need just two more classes to finish): It showed employers that I wasn’t standing still during unemployment, and it let me meet instructors and students who gave me job leads, contacts and valuable advice.

All these things put me in a good position to get the job that I’m fortunate, grateful and proud to have. I’m glad to tell this story, and share some advice that I hope will be helpful, even if it isn’t new to you:

• Get out there and network, network, network. And network on the Web, especially on LinkedIn. If you’re not on LinkedIn, get busy and get connected.
• Get some retraining. Go to school or seek resources on the Web that will add to your knowledge.
• Do volunteer work. You will feel better for it, you will help someone with your skills, and you will make good networking contacts.
• Seek out informational interviews with people who work in jobs or at companies in which you’re interested. They can give you valuable information and lead to job contacts.
• Identify transferable skills and promote them. Journalists: Remember that grant writing requires the type of skills that you have honed for years. So does RFP (request for proposal) writing. Think of how you can communicate important messages, for your own cause and for others you make your own.
• When you see a need for your skills, offer to fill it. You’ve seen many business brochures, PowerPoint presentations and promotional and informational literature filled with typos, grammatical errors and infelicities. So fix them. Look at it as a chance to make freelance money, or to do pro bono work that will make you feel good and gain networking contacts.
• Even though opportunities aren’t abundant in this economy, do not – do not – give up easily. Find a place for yourself. Make a place for yourself.

– 30 –

Michael Gauger blogs here. His LinkedIn profile is here.  On Twitter he is @mtgauger.

By Amy Webb
CEO, Knowledgewebb

Knowledgewebb is pleased to partner with Displaced Journalists to offer community members a deep discount on its annual membership dues. Knowledgewebb offers hands-on training, self-directed courses, ongoing webinars and more for professionals working in publishing and small-business communications.

Need pointers on how to edit an audio podcast? Want to brush up on Flash as a storytelling tool? Curious about augmented reality? Knowledgewebb was created as a support resource for people working in all areas of media who are trying to reinvent themselves and reinvigorate their careers.

To kick off the partnership, Knowledgewebb will conduct a free webinar at 2 p.m. EDT August 5. The online seminar “10 Steps to a Tech-Savvy You” is designed primarily for displaced journalists, stay-at-home entrepreneurs, seasoned academics, C-level corporate managers and retirees. Think of it as a digital media makeover. It will help you explore the critical websites, social networks and gear you need to survive in an increasingly digital world. Knowledgewebb will also offer a free primer on how to manage information overload. As always,  attendees will receive notes, worksheets and a list of recommended tools.

Knowledgewebb has been featured on MSNBC, FOX and NPR, as well as in Entrepreneur Magazine, as the go-to website to learn digital skills.

Space is limited and past webinars have filled up rapidly, so check out the technical details and book your reservation now. After you reserve your virtual seat, Knowledgewebb will email you a link that is unique to you. It cannot be shared with others. You must be pre-registered for this free session, with a confirmation email, in order to participate.

We have more than 200 lessons and webinars in our archives, with more added each week.

Recent additions:

• 3 Tools to Make Interactive Maps
• Your First Facebook API
• Monetizing Your Website, Part I of a series

And don’t overlook your access to our custom curriculum service, our expert answers to your questions on our forums, and a career coach as part of this dynamic community. We’re the first training site to offer a badge system, which makes learning a bit more interactive, and a lot more fun. (Hint, you’ll be rewarded with badges as well as points, which are used to earn real-world swag like Knowledgewebb gear, iPads and more throughout the year.)

Best of all, there’s never an additional fee for a course – your annual membership is an all-you-can-learn deal.

The regular price is $129, but your relationship with Displaced Journalists means you can sign up for just $89 (US) – that breaks down to .44 cents per lesson. Just use the discount code DISPLACED (all caps) in your cart.

We welcome you to our community!