Career advancement in journalism may depend in part on how well you get connected – and stay connected – with other journalists and journalism groups. The two primary methods for doing this are through e-mail discussion lists and active involvement in professional organizations.
Professional Organizations: Dozens of organizations are devoted to the advancement of some aspect of journalism or news production or another. Many of these sponsor educational workshops or other training events to help their members learn how to do their jobs better. Some sponsor job fairs, placement services or other vehicles for finding a job. This document is an Excel spreadsheet containing a list of many such organizations, their e-mail addresses, Web URLs and other contact information.
E-mail Discussion Lists: Through these online communities, journalists share with each other tips and techniques for completing stories, getting information and even for how to use software that can be helpful in story development. Barbara Fought at Syracuse University maintains two list of e-mail discussion lists of interest to mass communications professionals. They are called the Newhouse Net Lists, and they are accessible from her home page. Barbara also maintains a very handy chart that gives instructions for subscribing to and managing your list subscriptions.
Investigative Reporters and Editors and their subsidiary, the National Institute for Computer Assisted Reporting, also manage several lists for journalists and journalism educators. Links on the list provide instructions for subscribing and managing your subscription. For some of the lists, you must be a member of IRE.
