Investigator of stuff, freelance...
May 31, 2011 7:07 PM Subscribe
Another career question: Journalist-teacher-investigator(?) edition.
Problem: I lost my job in newspapers 15 years into a pretty mediocre-to-good career (I felt like I left on an upswing). For the last two years I've been piecing together a living. There's a lot to recommend about working from home and freelancing, but many of you know it's tough out there, too.
When I was laid off from the medium-sized, city newspaper, I had just begun work as an investigative reporter. I did some good work, but it was beginner's work, as far as investigative reporting goes. I didn't bring about any federal indictments or anything like that. But I was able to shed some light on some outrageous things, and even directly caused some (allegedly!) horrible people to get arrested. It felt great. I loved every minute of it.
I think I want to investigate "things." That's vague. How do I focus this desire?
Is there a way to become an independent investigative reporter?Newspaper jobs are few and far between, and I'm not willing to relocate to, say, Pocatello, Idaho just so I can work at a paper again (there's always a tiny paper hiring someone, somewhere...)
I also have discovered a passion for teaching. One of the several things I've been doing to make a living is teaching writing and journalism to college students. There's not a lot of money or stability there, but evidence suggests I have an aptitude for this, as well.
I have a background in radio -- it's where I started my career, and I love doing that too.
So -- I write, I investigate, I can do it in different media, I teach...does this skills profile sound familiar to any of you? Or am I too scattered? I don't need to remain a journalist, but I do need to do something "meaty," where I feel like I'm working for some kind of cause or perhaps greater good.
Thanks for telling me what to do with my life. Seriously, any thoughts appreciated.
Problem: I lost my job in newspapers 15 years into a pretty mediocre-to-good career (I felt like I left on an upswing). For the last two years I've been piecing together a living. There's a lot to recommend about working from home and freelancing, but many of you know it's tough out there, too.
When I was laid off from the medium-sized, city newspaper, I had just begun work as an investigative reporter. I did some good work, but it was beginner's work, as far as investigative reporting goes. I didn't bring about any federal indictments or anything like that. But I was able to shed some light on some outrageous things, and even directly caused some (allegedly!) horrible people to get arrested. It felt great. I loved every minute of it.
I think I want to investigate "things." That's vague. How do I focus this desire?
Is there a way to become an independent investigative reporter?Newspaper jobs are few and far between, and I'm not willing to relocate to, say, Pocatello, Idaho just so I can work at a paper again (there's always a tiny paper hiring someone, somewhere...)
I also have discovered a passion for teaching. One of the several things I've been doing to make a living is teaching writing and journalism to college students. There's not a lot of money or stability there, but evidence suggests I have an aptitude for this, as well.
I have a background in radio -- it's where I started my career, and I love doing that too.
So -- I write, I investigate, I can do it in different media, I teach...does this skills profile sound familiar to any of you? Or am I too scattered? I don't need to remain a journalist, but I do need to do something "meaty," where I feel like I'm working for some kind of cause or perhaps greater good.
Thanks for telling me what to do with my life. Seriously, any thoughts appreciated.
I found the switch from reporter to attorney (as a public defender) to be very rewarding. There are also some highly accomplished private investigators in my state, who basically function as reporters. (Except the bad information they find out generally doesn't make its way into a written report, the way that it would in the journalism field.)
posted by Happydaz at 9:53 PM on May 31, 2011
posted by Happydaz at 9:53 PM on May 31, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
There are also several journalism collectives around, mostly made up of really talented mid-career or veteran reporters. Also, have you looked at Pro Publica?
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:25 PM on May 31, 2011