INTRO. TO JOURNALISM RESIDENCY

I know that a lot of relatives are reading this blog--many of which probably don't even know anything about Northwestern--so I figured I would take a minute to give a brief introduction to the program or part of my curriculum that is responsible for sending me down to Texas Monthly.

For starters, it used to be called Teaching Media, which made a lot more sense than the current name: Journalism Residency. I am not, nor do I ever want to be a doctor. They already have dibs on that name. It counts for three credits [a full and typical quarter schedule is 3-4 credits] towards my journalism requirements. Prior to leaving for your Journalism Residency, a student has to complete two courses on your desired track [Magazine, Newspaper or Broadcast] that supposedly prepare you for your eleven-week internship. As a student on the magazine track, my two courses were Magazine Editing and Magazine Writing, respectively.

According to the Medill Web site, the program includes about 100 newspapers, magazines and television stations across the United States, but the number fluctuates from quarter to quarter and year to year. For example, SPIN didn't take any Medill students for about a year while they went through the overhaul that brought them to where they are now: a larger format, entirely new staff, etc.

I think it was over a year ago now when we had our first meeting about what was then Teaching Media. We had to preference what quarter we wanted to leave Evanston and what track we wanted to be on. Choosing to go in the winter didn't require any thought; any opportunity to not trudge back and forth from class in the snow is one I'm going to take. The magazine track was another no-brainer. Like I told my mom in a fairly recent conversation concerning what I want to do after college and for the rest of my professional life, I just want to be cool. I think middle-aged editors at consumer magazines are, without a doubt, cool.

There is a list of frequently asked questions on the Web site about Journalism Residency. I was just perusing them to see if anything might fit into this post and illuminate the program a bit more, but most of them deal with financial issues. Simply put: They screw you. Apparently--this was disclosed at one of the mandatory meetings that I did not attend--these sites pay $1,250 for the eleven weeks that they get to use us. In turn, we get a stipend of less then $1,250 to help cover costs of relocating to another city. The experience, however, should be worth it. Paid internships for journalism majors are, as they say, few and far between.

Jill told me that the pictures on my blog make it easier for people to read if they don't really give a shit about me and what I'm doing right now, so I've included this picture stolen from the Medill site. It's a girl on her JR in Fargo and I think it's hilarious.