A month ago I was a salaried investigative reporter working for Natural Resources News Service in Washington, DC. Now, I'm an unpaid intern for WAMU radio. In a way I've stepped backwards, but sometimes it's necessary in order to find your way forwards.

I don't know where the internship will lead me, but I'm glad I left my previous reporting job to find out or else I would still be there imagining what it would be like to work in broadcast news.

I've only been there for a week. While I feel as though I'm on another plant, so far the experience has been great. I'm learning the jargon, how to cut audio, write scripts and learn a whole new style of reporting. I even got the opportunity to report a story which aired on Sunday, February 17.

So for all the young reporters out there like myself, if you're interested in reporting for a particular type of news outlet different from the one you are in, save money and intern, even if it's just for a couple months. It's cheaper than going to grad school and you get hands on experience. If you hate it, than at least you can say you tested the waters; if you like it, than hopefully the experience will help you move forward toward achieving your goals.

I was in Tampa, Florida this past weekend and met a woman from Minnesota who was there training for a job with Nielsen Media Research, the company famous for providing Nielsen Ratings to TV and cable networks and ad agencies.

The woman talked about the company flying her to Tampa for three weeks, paying for her transportation, accommodations, basically everything except for alcohol, so she could learn how to sign up families who might be interested in participating in the ratings and how to maintain relationships with those families.

As she went on and on about how great her past three weeks have been, envy set in and I started thinking about my own job, wondering what three weeks of training would do for me as a reporter?

According to the Council of National Journalism Organizations website, a 2002 survey by Princeton Survey Research Associates, found the main source of job dissatisfaction for U.S. journalists is, you guessed it, lack of training. I couldn't agree more and believe it or not it even tops the complaint I have with my salary resembling that of a starving artist.

The survey, which interviewed 1,964 news executives and staffers, found "more than two-thirds receive no regular skills training; news companies overall have not increased their training budgets in the past decade; and news executives say time and insufficient budgets are the main reasons they do not provide more training opportunities," according to the CNJO website.

While the CNJO website lists organizations offering resources journalists can utilize to enhance their skills and a google search also pulls up training programs for journalists, most of these programs cost mucho dinero to attend, especially for the cub reporter who is just barely making enough to pay the rent. On a more positive note, the conferences are cheaper than going to grad school.

Here is a list of organizations listed on the CNJO website and others I found through google. Who knows, you may be able to convince your news organization to pay the cost. If anyone has attended a conference that was helpful or not, post a comment or send me an email.


1. Journalismtraining.org

2. Tomorrow's Workforce

3. News Train

4. Committee of Concerned Journalist

5. Poynter's News University

6. Learning Newsroom

7. NoSweat Journalism (UK)

8. Investigative Reporters and Editors

9. Reporter.org

10. Business.com

11. Reuters Foundation

12. American Press Institute

[Note: Reporter.org and Business.com list various organizations offering seminars, resources and training]