To update from the previous post, Project Mango, a site I’m building to bring young journalists together to share their stories, experiences, tips and more, now has an official name: JournU.
The URL will be JournU.net. And it should debut in July. For now, you can follow JournU on Twitter and on Facebook.
But for the site to go public by July, I could use some more journalists to volunteer.
I understand this effort is going to be difficult at first with people not knowing what exactly JournU will be. So I decided to put together an outline of what I’m looking for out of contributors (which will be the “Write for Us!” page on the site itself), plus two posts I’ve already written to launch with the site.
To the right: A preview of the site (so far). Final logo pending.
I’m inviting you
JournU is meant to be a collective effort by as many bright young journalists as possible. If you believe you fall under that category, I encourage you to jump in and write about your experiences, your lessons, your advice and more!
What JournU is looking for
Who should write: “Young journalist” is not discriminatory toward age. A definition to start out with: any college journalist or professional journalists with between 1-5 years of experience. If you fall short of that definition, don’t worry! I still want you to chip in. The point is to bring many journalists together to share what they’ve learned and experienced in the field to encourage and inspire others to grow as professionals.
What to write about: Anything you want. The floor is yours. Are you a designer looking to share what you’ve learned designing front pages? Write about it. Are you in broadcasting and have an incredible story of a day in the field? Write about it. Are you a photographer with tips on how to survive as a freelancer? Write about it! Anything that you think would benefit or even entertain other young journalists, I want you to share it.
Requirements: Barely any. You can write whenever you want, however you want.
- Your writing may be subject to some editing, but only for spelling and grammar.
- For biographical purposes, I want you to use your real name, a short bio of yourself which at least includes which university you attend(ed), and an avatar (see: right). This can all be filled out in the WordPress Dashboard once your login is set up.
A preview of two posts I’ve written so far:
How to build your journalism reading list: The habit I got into that has helped me the most as a young journalist is reading my RSS feed with the latest updates from my favorite journalism sites and blogs. Therefore, I’m sharing how you can set yours up, with what reader(s) you should choose and how to begin searching for the feeds that suit you.
Looking for a journalism job? Consider moving across the country: I spent my first 23 years of existence in Michigan, but decided to take my first post-graduate job 1,900 miles away in Arizona. It’s not an easy decision to make for anyone, but there are benefits to doing so from my own experiences and why I think journalists should consider that path.
How do I get started?
Fill out the form below!
Caution: Depending on how many people sign up to write, I can’t guarantee everyone who fills out the form will become contributors. However, the more information you provide, the better your chances.
Should you be approved to write for JournU, you’ll be provided with WordPress login information which you can use to access the back end as an author. There, you can update your bio and add new posts whenever you wish.
So get on board:
Posted by Brian Manzullo at June 29, 2011
Journalism, Updates