10/20/20 Making Your Job Easier and More Fulfilling
DATE: October 20, 2020
TO:
Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service (WIPPS)
Student Journalist Participants
FROM:
Roger Utnehmer, Director
WIPPS Student Journalism Program
Utnehmer@gmail.com
920 495 9677
RE: Making Your Job Easier and More Fulfilling
Never during my 42-year broadcasting career have I seen as much pressure on news staffs to do more with less, to deal with staffing shortages, changing media preferences and critical attitudes expressed toward reporters.
Here are a few reasons why I sincerely believe your participation in the WIPPS Student Journalism Program can make that measurably better.
- …High School student reporters provide content that gives people reasons to read your newspapers and listen to your radio stations.
- …The program provides students who often do not have a voice an opportunity to be represented in the news media. Few things can be more important today in the operation of an effective and respected news operation than to include minority voices. Equal employment opportunities are not just good for FCC compliance but also good programming and good for democracy.
- …Every news organization in Wisconsin needs to be developing the next generation of reporters. The days of receiving fifty applications for one news opening are gone. This program is generating interest in careers in news reporting. You can be part of the process of making news an attractive career option by starting with high school students in your community.
Please consider how working with a student or two can provide interesting content, expand the appeal of your medium to a younger demographic, give a needed voice to those who often do not have one today, and assure that when you need to fill reporter positions in the future that you have a pool of applicants from which to choose.