I found out today that I didn't even get an interview for the Toronto Star's one-year internship.
It's a bit of a blow to my self-esteem. To think they wouldn't even bat an eye at me sucks. I have good credentials, decent experience. I work hard. I'm a good writer. I dig.
The Record isn't even sure if they will have a one-year internship this year. That is the one place I probably have the best chance of getting a job, but I don't want to jinx anything. My only other good options now are the Guelph Mercury and the Hamilton Spectator. It's doubtful the London Free Press is hiring, and I'll apply to the Ottawa Citizen but I think it's a long shot.
This is really scary. As of today, in a month-and-a-half, I will be jobless. I will soon need to think about the what-ifs for if I don't have a newspaper job in the fall. Will I apply at RIM? Home Depot until I find something better (shudder)? Should I be applying to smaller daily newspapers (Like the Simcoe Reformer) or decent less-than-dailies (like the Mississauga News). I don't know? It feels like every step I take right now, could determine my career. Go for a job at a smaller paper, and I may not get to a bigger one again. Aim too high and I could end up with nothing. All I know is I would be truly heart broken if I couldn't live my dream of being a print journalist after this summer. I've worked so hard to get this far.
Hire me! Hire me, please!!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The Courts
I've always been a wee bit afraid of the day someone would ask me to cover court. The justice system is a tad intimidating to me and I'm not exactly a Law & Order buff.
But I covered a couple court stories in the Ontario Court of Justice Friday for the first time - aside from the time my journalism class bombarded London court last fall.
There are some challenges. Judges don't really like recording devices in court, so you strictly rely on your own keen attention, listening and messy-writing skills. Not that a recorder would help - the acoustics aren't great and every judge I've ever heard seems to whisper their verdicts.
The scary thing is, for me, I was the only reporter in the room. It was me, some lawyers, the judge, and a bunch of criminals. If I got a detail wrong, not only could I screw up these people's reputations, but I could mess with their cases, and the natural course of justice. If you don't hear a fact, or miss a date, or the order of some events, you basically have to nab one of the lawyers as they scoot in and out of the room. You can't exactly interrupt a case saying "Excuse me - what did you just say? What did that guy just plead guilty to? And how do you spell that name?"
The other thing about court for summary convictions - the less important stuff - is the docket can have any number of cases for the day. And they go in any order they please. And cases fall off the docket with no notice. I ended up waiting an extra two hours, listening to random cases, to find out the case I was waiting for - of a man who apparently poured gasoline all over his house in a domestic dispute - wasn't going to happen that day, and the Crown had no idea why. Hmph.
But my high point was that I took notes for a case I wasn't even told to cover. And when I got back to the newsroom, the editor said, "yeah write something on that!" I was proud of myself for guessing what would be newsworthy. It was about a drunk driver who pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death. The Record did a story about the woman who died in the crash in May, and my nice little memory stored that tidbit. The other story was about a teen that randomly beat up a guy in a drunken attack last summer.
Even though I had to sit through a lot of cases before getting to what I was writing on, it was really interesting. The human drama captured my attention. A former RIM employee who got addicted to crack and went on disability and ended up being charged with fraud for writing fake cheques. A man who made a habit of stealing meat from grocery stores. A guy who shook up his wife after he found out she was cheating on him after a 10 year marriage. A girl who was charged with assault on her 21st birthday after slapping around a female employee at Phil's. It's good drama, right?
So, now that I've got my feet wet in the courts, what can I say? I want more. It's just like cops. The challenge has whet my appetite. Give me more!
But I covered a couple court stories in the Ontario Court of Justice Friday for the first time - aside from the time my journalism class bombarded London court last fall.
There are some challenges. Judges don't really like recording devices in court, so you strictly rely on your own keen attention, listening and messy-writing skills. Not that a recorder would help - the acoustics aren't great and every judge I've ever heard seems to whisper their verdicts.
The scary thing is, for me, I was the only reporter in the room. It was me, some lawyers, the judge, and a bunch of criminals. If I got a detail wrong, not only could I screw up these people's reputations, but I could mess with their cases, and the natural course of justice. If you don't hear a fact, or miss a date, or the order of some events, you basically have to nab one of the lawyers as they scoot in and out of the room. You can't exactly interrupt a case saying "Excuse me - what did you just say? What did that guy just plead guilty to? And how do you spell that name?"
The other thing about court for summary convictions - the less important stuff - is the docket can have any number of cases for the day. And they go in any order they please. And cases fall off the docket with no notice. I ended up waiting an extra two hours, listening to random cases, to find out the case I was waiting for - of a man who apparently poured gasoline all over his house in a domestic dispute - wasn't going to happen that day, and the Crown had no idea why. Hmph.
But my high point was that I took notes for a case I wasn't even told to cover. And when I got back to the newsroom, the editor said, "yeah write something on that!" I was proud of myself for guessing what would be newsworthy. It was about a drunk driver who pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death. The Record did a story about the woman who died in the crash in May, and my nice little memory stored that tidbit. The other story was about a teen that randomly beat up a guy in a drunken attack last summer.
Even though I had to sit through a lot of cases before getting to what I was writing on, it was really interesting. The human drama captured my attention. A former RIM employee who got addicted to crack and went on disability and ended up being charged with fraud for writing fake cheques. A man who made a habit of stealing meat from grocery stores. A guy who shook up his wife after he found out she was cheating on him after a 10 year marriage. A girl who was charged with assault on her 21st birthday after slapping around a female employee at Phil's. It's good drama, right?
So, now that I've got my feet wet in the courts, what can I say? I want more. It's just like cops. The challenge has whet my appetite. Give me more!
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
The Paper
Well MTV has hooked me again. I'm usually pretty good at avoiding addiction to crappy reality TV shows, but after The Hills, I've become vulnerable - searching for something to fill the void until the next season starts. Ack, I feel ashamed for even saying that.
So a nice little series called The Paper has caught my interest. It's about a high school newspaper class - something I really wish my little school had. There's a lot of high school drama but it's really cute and has kept me company while Jake works nights and my cats are sleeping. They don't get into the nitty-gritty of newspaper production, which I wish they did, but it does remind me of my years at The Cord.
Check out this clip:
By the way, I can't begin to imagine what it would have been like if we had to cut pages at the last minute. In four years, I don't remember us EVER having to do that. This class works on monthly publication from what I can tell - how the heck did they mess up the planning on that one?
So a nice little series called The Paper has caught my interest. It's about a high school newspaper class - something I really wish my little school had. There's a lot of high school drama but it's really cute and has kept me company while Jake works nights and my cats are sleeping. They don't get into the nitty-gritty of newspaper production, which I wish they did, but it does remind me of my years at The Cord.
Check out this clip:
By the way, I can't begin to imagine what it would have been like if we had to cut pages at the last minute. In four years, I don't remember us EVER having to do that. This class works on monthly publication from what I can tell - how the heck did they mess up the planning on that one?
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