FREDERICK MELO
Greetings, new remote worker! You’re receiving this 10-step guide not as punishment or homework, but as a handy reference based on my several years of working with interns and fellows, increasingly remotely. I’ve been in the news media — and other industries — a couple of decades now, and it amazes me how little communication there is involving basic office etiquette and other workplace survival mechanisms. In a communications field, no less!
This crib sheet was written for new reporters, but I suspect it could be adapted for interns and new hires in government, marketing, nonprofits … any field where workers used to meet face-to-face with the public, and each other, to get eye-to-eye, and are now left trying to accomplish the same by Zoom, text and email, or silent muttering under their breath in their “home office.”
So do this, don’t do that:
PICK UP THE PHONE: If you’re here just to rewrite press releases, quit now. Don’t get me wrong — I love an event listing, events are fun — but you should graduate from only doing press release rewrites as soon as you can, talk to real humans and write stories. And if you don’t, AI (artificial intelligence) will soon replace you anyhow. Little beats the intimacy of a phone call — it can (sometimes) be even more engaging than a face-to-face interview.
And then go to the actual event you just previewed. And write a story about it. And then a series about it. And then a book! You need good clips to survive in this field, and rewriting press releases gets boring fast.
NO 5 P.M. SURPRISES: Surprises are normal in any field, but they’re especially worrisome between 4 to 6 p.m. Don’t approach your photo editor with an assignment for the next morning at 4 p.m. if you can avoid it. And sometimes it can’t be avoided. When you call a reporter, just ask, “Are you on deadline or do you have a minute to talk?” They’ll remember and admire your professionalism, and write you a reference and help you get into law school … I mean, a journalism Ph.D. program.
RTFP: That means “Read the @#&*@#$ Paper.” It’s an industry term, look it up. Not realizing that your story ran two days ago and you can stop working on it now wastes everyone’s time, especially yours. This is an information industry, so get informed. Pick up a hard copy of the paper whenever you can. Or read it at the library. There’s even a PDF version of the hard copy Pioneer Press online, which you flip through like a dead-tree paper: enewspaper.twincities.com.
Working in government? This is, I imagine, the equivalent: Scan some meeting minutes to familiarize yourself — and maybe the rest of the room — as to where the discussion left off in the previous meeting a month ago. And still read a newspaper. Everyone will be impressed when you declare that the governor is expected to make a bombshell announcement in your field and the Pioneer Press reports there’s a press conference about it in an hour. In short, show up informed and ready to work.
HIT THE ARCHIVES: Don’t write a thing without looking at the official archives. If you’re approaching your story like it’s breaking news, and it’s actually been covered 10 times and you’re just doing rehash, there’s no one to blame but yourself. And no, a quick Google search won’t cut it — you’ll get the most popular hits, not the latest hits.
RESPOND TO EMAILS: Your editor or fellow reporter asked you a question — at least acknowledge you received the email, even if you don’t know the answer offhand. Otherwise you “sound” like silence, or like you’re walking right past someone trying to catch your attention. Rude! At least respond, “OK, I’ll read through this email when I get a chance, I’m finishing up a couple things today for my editor, and the rest of the week is shaping up to be pretty busy with projects A, B and C …” People will remember you cared at least enough to acknowledge them.
ALWAYS BE WRITING: Volunteer for stories. Pitch stories. Approach reporters directly and ask them if they need help with stories. Always be writing. If I’m calling you and asking, “What are you working on today/this week?” and your response is routinely, “Nothing,” that’s a bad sign. Everyone else is juggling multiple projects.
SMALL-BIGGER-BIGGEST: Think small-bigger-biggest. And juggle all three at once! OK, you just rewrote a press release in two or three paragraphs announcing upcoming bus route construction weaving through a commercial area. Swing by and talk to the businesses. Are they excited about this project? Or will it put them out of business? There’s a longer daily story there. Call the transit authority and get a response. Hit the online archives and check out what happened in other transit corridors after construction wrapped. Did the small businesses leave or thrive? There’s a big Sunday story there!
SOCIAL MEDIA: Monitor social media for breaking news. I fully understand that not every reporter is ready to engage the public on Twitter and take on a pantheon of sexist and racist online trolls — I get it. But police and fire officials release crime scene announcements and even video on Twitter. Politicians announce they’re running for office on Twitter. The president of the United States, if he declares war, may do so on Twitter. Philando Castile and George Floyd literally died on Facebook. Telling me, “I can’t help out backgrounding that murder suspect, or murder victim, or corrupt official. I don’t have Facebook,” is unacceptable. Make a dummy social media account if you have to named “Donald Duck” and monitor news there without ever making quack, if that’s your style. Get on there!
COMMUNICATE: This is the communications industry. Your story is falling apart? Been there, trust me. Surprising your editor with that news at 5 p.m.? Rude! Hitting a wall around sources? Ask your fellow reporters (and fellow interns, and Google, and social media …)
GET OUT: Leave your house and go into the field — ideally everyday. Reporters tell people in the community what is happening in the community after people in the community tell reporters what is happening in the community. That’s hard to do if you’ve never been. You’re not going to be much use talking about how road construction is impacting businesses if you’ve never tried driving that road yourself or met with those business owners face-to-face. A little color goes a long way, and you’ll write with a much more compelling touch if you’ve left your bedroom and jumped in the pool.
A final thought: Why are you here? “I like to write!” Yeah, me too. But that’s not the job I’m paid to do. Reporters are — sometimes — the last line of defense for a fragile democracy, and what we write — and monitor, and document — matters to voters, taxpayers, readers. Congrats — you’re now a democracy defender. That’s your mission and your audience, and you should never forget your audience. Keep your mission in mind, and everything else will fall into place.
Source: MediaNews Group
Original content:
https://www.twincities.com/2023/09/17/10-tips-to-survive-a-remote-internship-in-news-media-or-anywhere-else/
