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Finding inspiration (RSS)

Tips to make you feel spirited and ready for the work week!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009 8:55 AM

Formulating a back up plan for your job

When I got my first newspaper job out of college it was well-known that it's not a good career for making big bucks. I had several friends filtered out of journalism just based on the low-paying positions.Today, people working as journalists have to be
posted by SonyaSmith | 0 Comments
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Tuesday, December 16, 2008 4:57 PM

Building an inspiring work environment - from the walls up

Staying inspired at work is something I feel all journalists need to work at ---- and now we need it more than ever.This week the web group I'm in (I'm now on the Web Task Force at my work) is moving to a new area within our building. Our group moves
posted by SonyaSmith | 2 Comments
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Monday, December 24, 2007 4:49 PM

New Year's Resolutions anyone?

It's that time of year again!Everyone thinks up to January 1 how they'll eat less, exercise more and write friends more often. But, maybe we should plan out resolutions for journalism.I've been thinking about what I should work on the most next year and
posted by SonyaSmith | 1 Comments
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Friday, October 19, 2007 5:37 PM

One big adventure

A while ago I blogged about changing careers, and how difficult it is to do even when one has only been in a job for a year or two. Well, I can attest to change being possible, and though it is difficult to do, we are able. And I think our youth gives
posted by ElysseJames | 0 Comments
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Thursday, September 27, 2007 5:55 AM

Two parter

Rex Smith, editor of the Times Union, wrote a column about speaking at a journalism school in New York - and he shared his two of advice for young journalists which I thought was worth sharing:First, we can teach them that somewhere in the morass of spin
posted by SonyaSmith | 0 Comments
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Wednesday, September 05, 2007 3:25 PM

Who's up for D.C.?

Yeah! I saved up enough money that I bought my plane ticket and reserved my hotel last night for the convention in Washington D.C.! Yeah, I guess I'm not quite there yet for the convention - right now I'm saving up $445 for the convention, opening
posted by SonyaSmith | 6 Comments
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Friday, August 31, 2007 7:30 PM

We have a destination! Sort of...

In my last post I asked people to share their opinions on the state of the industry and the direction journalism is headed. Here's what I learned:     From what everyone said it seems the future will be in video/Web news. The journalists
posted by ElysseJames | 0 Comments
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Monday, August 27, 2007 1:30 PM

Go for it

My latest inspiration has been gearing myself up to try to achieve all of the things I've set out for myself.Many people believe I take on too much - spreading myself too thin and risking that I'll burn out.But, I enjoy being busy, stressed out and stretched.
posted by SonyaSmith | 2 Comments
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Wednesday, August 15, 2007 8:56 PM

Do-it-yourself mentality

Sonya's last post was inspiring - I checked my high school paper and proudly discovered that a .pdf version of each issue from the past year is easily accessible online from the high school's Web site. Now the question is whether the staffers or the campus's
posted by ElysseJames | 1 Comments
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Tuesday, August 14, 2007 3:47 PM

Young journalists should begin, not rebel against the newspaper revolution

I just can't take it anymore.It seems like most of the young journalists I meet (some still in school, others just graduated) are rebelling against rather than leading the revolution to make news media successfull in the future.Why?!?!?!This article on
posted by SonyaSmith | 6 Comments
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Tuesday, August 07, 2007 2:35 PM

A gem is lost, who do you look up to?

    This morning, I received an e-mail from the Los Angeles SPJ chapter alerting its members to the death of Hal Fishman:"We are deeply saddened by the death of long-time KTLA anchor Hal Fishman. Hal was an icon in Los Angeles news, and
posted by SonyaSmith | 3 Comments
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Wednesday, July 18, 2007 5:58 AM

Getting it right

Q.So I was hoping I could run something by you and the Generation J crowd. Work's been pretty intense lately and I'm feeling the pressure. About six months ago I had a bad two week stint where I had a couple errors and corrections. I freaked out, I
posted by SonyaSmith | 3 Comments
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Monday, July 09, 2007 5:16 AM

Tell me why do I do this?!?

A topic from a regular reader:I'm an avid Gen J reader, and I recently had an interesting e-mailconversation with a former professor who was asking me about my careerand sort of where to go from my first job. I'm not on the hunt oranything, but I am nearing
posted by SonyaSmith | 5 Comments
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Wednesday, July 04, 2007 12:57 AM

Freedom on Independence Day

The lucky folks who work for media organizations rarely get holidays off. After all, people expect to read the news on holiday mornings, and someone's gotta be there to put it all together!Somehow I managed to convince my bosses that I should take this
posted by ElysseJames | 2 Comments
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Tuesday, July 03, 2007 4:54 PM

Timing is everything

Seems to me more and more that setting priorities, staying organized and managing time is necessary to doing our jobs - and any jobs in the future.I generally use the Frankling Covey planning system: define your roles (dance teacher, reporter, etc.),
posted by SonyaSmith | 0 Comments
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