Statistics indicate that 60% of college graduates cannot
find a full-time job in their chosen profession, according to Forbes. Armed
with a journalism degree in 1977 I found myself working in public relations, a
second cousin to journalism. At that time Mizzou only offered one course in PR
and that was my one C grade. Now I believe you can get a bachelor’s and a
master’s degree in public relations.
But while I “settled” for jobs in PR and marketing, my
love was always for reporting and news writing. I didn’t go through the
broadcast sequence because I didn’t think I was attractive enough to be on air,
but I enjoyed the challenge of good old fashioned straight journalism. I took
the reporting class during a summer semester when there were fewer students to
compete with for the bylines. One of my most memorable interviews included a
group of nudists at a local quarry swimming hole who were lobbying to make that
spot a nudist camp. Yes, they were nude. No, I was not. The other interview
that had me shaking in my shoes before I got there was one with a convicted
felon who had been paroled and was earning a living repairing billiards tables.
He turned out to be a nice, quiet guy.
Another course I took was for magazine publishing, where
the articles were much longer, included more photos and we were also
responsible for designing the layout. My highest grade was for the long article
on the St. Louis Arch and Museum of Westward Expansion. A roommate worked as a
park ranger at the Arch during the summer and was instrumental in getting me
the contacts for the interviews. My “human interest” sidebar focused on
the rangers’ overnights at the top of the Arch. They would forgo the cable cars
and hike up 630 feet to the top inside one leg with their sleeping bags and
backpacks. Of course, there were no restrooms up there, so “that” had to be
taken back down in the morning.
At my first job I
learned how to write press releases, set up interviews for our company
executives with industry publications, and publish the company’s monthly
employee newsletter. After I left that job in aviation there was a two-year dry
spell before I got back into newsletter editing and publishing, and for the
next 28 years I wrote for and edited at least one and up to four newsletters at
a time. All volunteer outside of my full-time job in marketing.
Now, unemployed for the first time after 35 years I am
excited to have an opportunity to get paid for working at my first love. After
the company I helped start 24 years ago decided to use “remote employee status”
as a convenient reason to reduce force I contacted the publisher of the
suburban monthly newspaper here in Jacksonville. Within one week I was given two story assignments,
two photo assignments and proofing/editing of the next issue … all as a
freelance “stringer”. I’m hopeful that this will work into something steady but
in the meantime, I’m having a whale of a time!
