Alums to students: Out is in
By Laurel Brozovich
Some graduates may be skeptical. Some may even be astonished. But a panel of seven professionals confirmed that there is life beyond the newsroom.
From filmmaking to teaching English, the six School of Journalism and Mass Communication alums who came to speak at the University of Colorado in April shared their advice with students seeking reassurance about their own career goals.
The panel included Gloria Bucco ('78), independent journalist and copywriter; Michelle Dorsett ('94), emerging-technologies analyst; James Doyle ('93), spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell; Karen Fisher ('79 MA), managing editor of newsletters for Windows NT Magazine; Monty Miranda ('89), owner of Incite Films; and Scott Takeda ('89), owner of Short Sirkit Creative. Also on the panel was Gil Asakawa, producer for TheTrip.com, brother of Glenn Asakawa ('93).
Although the panelists represented different backgrounds and careers, the thread that linked them is their graduation tassels from the School.
Gil Asakawa said his reasons for making the transition from newspaper rock music critic to producer of The Trip.com.
"I did a good job as a writer. But I needed a change."
The change came for Asakawa when he realized that his passion may have once been writing about music, but "I could do it in my sleep, and it wasn't fair to the bands or to me." First, he hired younger reporters to cover new bands. Then when his paper, The Gazette in Colorado Springs, went online he absorbed everything he could about the new technology.
"The future is online. Broadcast will be merged with reading and writing and the Internet," Asakawa said. "There are going to be a lot of alternative careers that use journalism skills."
The other panelists agreed that a career in print journalism may take many turns.
"It's a high burn-out career. If you have the mindset that you will survive, you have to live, breathe and drink the news everyday. Those news addicts are the ones who survive, but don't feel bad if that is not you," said Takeda, a former television producer and photographer who now owns a multi-media sales and marketing company.
Bucco also applauded the notion of searching for the perfect career. She started her journalism career as a newspaper reporter with a young daughter, but was never satisfied with the fast-paced, low-paid lifestyle. Bucco then exposed herself to a variety of jobs in which she used her journalism skills, including teaching English, writing proposals for Ball Aerospace and editing a natural health and medicine magazine.
Using her networking skills, she contacted former colleagues to find clients and now operates Gloria Bucco & Associates from her home.
"Never underestimate the importance of networking," Bucco told the journalists-to-be. "Because the next thing you know, you're getting a phone call."
Bucco's daughter, Leah Bucco-White ('95), is a reporter for KMID-TV in Midland, Texas.
If anyone knows the importance of networking as well as Bucco, it is James Doyle, communications director for Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo.
Doyle uses his journalism skills nearly every day. Everything he writes must be pitched to news outlets, and he has to convince editors his story is worthwhile. It is a skill that must not be taken for granted, according to Doyle.
"It's amazing how many people cannot be effective writers, and we have that to offer," Doyle said. "All of us have good communication skills and networking skills."
Karen Fisher, who makes her living translating technical writing into newsletters at Duke Communications Co. of Loveland, said she knows the ability to communicate well sets her apart from some of her colleagues.
"I think editing is like solving a puzzle. I am translating what they write into what they mean," said Fisher. "It's like learning a foreign language, but you pick it up. Most of the skills I've used have been language skills."
The panel agreed a journalism and mass communication degree is not one-dimensional, but rather a degree that can be used in all technical and computer-related careers of the future. "
All of our careers are changing," said Monty Miranda, who turned his broadcast production and film degrees into the backbone of Incite Films, which has created award-winning television commercials.
The skills that journalism and mass communication students possess are what sets them apart in a world where computer technology is now found in nearly every home, Miranda said.
"Filmmaking used to be privileged, but now all you need $2,000 to $3,000 to buy a good quality camera," said Miranda.
Michelle Dorsett, an emerging-technologies analyst, said students wishing to find the competitive edge that journalism skills and familiarity with technology will offer them in the future should learn HTML and Java Script to open themselves up for jobs within technical companies.
"I stress that no matter what field you are in, if you can be a good writer and communicator, you will have a very valuable skill," Dorsett said.