'Help Wanted' Media Insights - Newsroom Confidential

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'Help Wanted' Media Insights

By Dean Rotbart

The street smart media relations executive can find important journalism insights in some of the most obscure venues.

One of my favorite places to hunt is in the help wanted sections of publications, such as Editor & Publisher and the Society of American Business Editors and Writers membership newsletter, The Business Journalist.

Announcements in these and similar trade publications not only tell me where journalism vacancies exist, they also provide me a window on the journalistic characteristics that are most important to different editors and news organizations.

For example, USA Today's Money section recently placed an ad seeking an "experienced personal finance/markets reporter." What kind of experience does it take to write on the subject for the national full-color newspaper? Applicant's "should have at least two years' experience covering issues such as investing, mutual funds and the financial markets."

Bloomberg News tells job seekers that it will consider beginners for its reporting posts covering corporate news from Princeton "as long as they show the initiative to learn fast, cultivate sources and break news on an industry basis." By contrast, aspiring Bloomberg editors must have "five years of experience at a major publication and the ability to make confident news judgments as well as strong editing and rewriting skills."

The ad is confirmation of Bloomberg's penchant for recruiting hoards of young, energetic reporters and pushing them quickly into the news pool, using more seasoned editors to stand by as lifeguards. Those reporters who don't soon meet the challenge are shown the exit.

The Tampa Tribune is searching for a new business editor, which the paper refers to as a business team leader. The right candidate for the West Central Florida newspaper will supervise the regular business section six days a week as well as a Monday business tab. Besides working with the business section's staff of nine reporters and a columnist, the new team leader will also be expected to attract stories from non-business reporters to run in the business section.

As the Trib's help wanted ad explains: "This is a highly competitive environment, so we're placing a lot of importance on people who have a strong sense of urgency and perspective." What can such a vital newsroom leader expect to earn? From $52,000 to $60,000.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is seeking an assistant business editor to, among other things, help copy edit. Why? The ad speaks for itself: "The successful hiring of an assistant business editor will allow the current assistant business editor to move to chief of the features copy desk, and the current chief to his new assignment as assistant arts and entertainment editor."

Delusion is a key component to many journalism help wanted ads. Editors delude themselves into believing there are journalists out there who fit the bill, as they describe it. And delusional journalists, reading those ads, respond by saying, "That's me."

Take Jon Talton, executive business editor of the Charlotte Observer, who is an above-average editor at a solid metropolitan newspaper. He's hoping to find "a veteran business writer for a unique job covering business trends, issues and personalities throughout the region."

So far, so good.

"The successful candidate," Mr. Talton's add continues, "will have demonstrated ability in writing strong takeouts in the Wall Street Journal Page-One style; enterprising news before it is announced, and reporting sophisticated, 'inside' business news. The job demands a productive, flexible self-starter with good working knowledge of SEC documents and financial records, and the capacity to come up to speed quickly on an issue or community."

My honest question for Mr. Talton is this: Why would anyone who meets those specifications choose to work for the Charlotte Observer, when they would have the choice of working at any business news organization in the country?

One possible reason: Maybe they want to live in Charlotte. Or perhaps they'd be attracted to Madison, WI - "one of the best places to live in America" (Wisconsin State Journal); Las Vegas - "the nation's fastest-growing and most exciting city" (Las Vegas Business Press); Rochester, NY - "home to Eastman Kodak, Xerox, and Bausch & Lomb; a large high-tech, manufacturing and small-business community; and of the highest rates of stock ownership in the United States" (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle); Colorado Springs, CO - "a booming region where high tech, military contractors, telecommunications, tourism and non-profits dominate" (The Gazette); Florence, SC - "one hour from Myrtle Beach" (Morning News); or Honolulu, HI - no additional comment required.

For those readers who might be interested in filling some of the other vacancies I've recently spotted, here is an abridged list:

American Banker: "a sharp, seasoned reporter" with 4 to 6 years experience.

Better Homes and Gardens Family Money: "a world class features editor."

Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY): an assistant business editor.

Des Moines Register: a reporter to "aggressively pursue key local business issues affecting our readers."

Detroit News: "an auto editor to direct a group of reporters covering the automotive industries."

Dow Jones Newswires: "aggressive reporters with a few years of experience needed to cover mutual funds or real estate."

Houston Chronicle: "an aggressive reporter to join a group of writers covering the energy industry."

Mutual Funds Magazine: "experienced financial writers, full-time (in South Florida) or free lance."

News Journal (Wilmington, DE): "a reporter to cover the banking and credit card industries in Delaware."

Observer-Dispatch (Utica, NY): "an aggressive and passionate reporter to dig up hard-hitting and revealing stories, track trends and explain how the economy is affecting readers."

San Francisco Examiner: business section story editor. "...a key management position that calls for substantial daily assignment desk experience."

Seattle Times: Business copy desk editor/s "must have strong word-editing and headline writing skills, as demonstrated on editing test."

Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA): "an experienced and talented reporter to cover agriculture, manufacturing and labor issues."

St. Petersburg Times: a general assignment business reporter "who can cover daily news and write weekend features."

December, 1997