I like to think that I've been making use of my time in New York in a highly constructive manner. Although I live in DC, I teach a class at the City University of New York Graduate School Of Journalism.
Typically, I arrive in NYC on Sundays and arrange to find former students/current mentees/professional colleagues and friends to meet, hang out and talk. It's how I get a lot of fodder for this blog. Case in point: Ryan and Alex are more recent mentees. Currently, Ryan has a job as a multimedia producer/reporter for a big company. Meanwhile Alex is finishing up a grad degree, but works as a freelance multimedia producer.
We met up on rainy Sunday afternoon in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Ryan was telling us some stories about his days at university and clearly remembered a particular professor's advice during his undergraduate days. It seems this professor's advice to the young who are eager to succeed was "just don't suck." Apparently, this was uttered out loud, in class. Ryan told the story like it happened just the day before.
We laughed but I was horrified too. I teach and I would never have said such a thing to a student who wanted me to list the keys to a successful career. Is that the standard of measurement today? That is, as long as you don't do anything stupid, you'll win? Certainly I have worries about the lack of depth being taught, openly and aggressively (especially in radio) these days. There's a strong push for the latest technology that enables you to mass distribute information. But, journalism is also about plodding, methodically researched, well-designed and edited reportage. The kind that costs money and time and is recognized by peer review for starting or extending a conversation about an event that affects people.
When I get asked for the keys to success, I don't offer an easy, throw away sentence that can be easily tweeted. Getting a job and starting a career requires many pivots and my goal is to make sure my mentees understand that and are not afraid if something doesn't work. It's okay to try again.
If I were in that class, I would have advised the teacher to follow his own advice.
*Chantal de la Rionda edits this blog
