Newhouse School of Communications
Career Paths:
Newspaper
Newspapers
The largest employer of journalists is the newspaper industry. There are about 6,700 newspapers published in the United States today (1,700 daily and 5,000 weekly)-even the smallest towns in the nation are covered by a local or regional paper. Although they compete with other media-radio, television, and the Internet-newspapers are still an essential source of news and information for the public. Broadcast and electronic media cannot provide the in-depth news coverage and analysis that newspapers offer. Most large metropolitan newspapers appear daily. Some papers such as USA Today and the Wall Street Journal are national in scope and, therefore, skip over much regional news. Smaller suburban and local papers, which are usually published once a week, concentrate on news that affects their immediate areas.
Online Publications
Web publishing is certain to play an increasingly important role in news and information delivery because it decreases production costs and supplies a product that is easy to distribute and update. To the user's advantage, online publications often maintain easily searchable archives of back issues at their sites. Currently, electronic publications can be divided into two groups. First, there are sites produced by established news organizations, including CNN and most major metropolitan newspapers, where you can access their broadcast or print versions plus features that are only available online. (Some large companies have wholly separate new media divisions; The New York Times owns New York Digital.) The second type of online publication has no association with other media. The flowering of independent electronic publications like the "webzine" Slate, which covers public affairs, has created a great new market for young writers.
Wire Services
Wire services, also known as news agencies or press associations, are newsgathering and reporting organizations that provide their subscribers with up-to-date, round-the-clock news stories and photographs. The two largest wire services in the United States carry general news: the Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI). Wire services are much like newspapers in their daily operations except that the "wires" transmit stories via satellite to their members and subscribers (newspapers, magazines, broadcast news programs, and government agencies) which then print the stories.
Sales and Circulation
Both newspapers and magazines rely heavily on sales or "the business side" of the industry for survival. Newspapers sell both print ads and classifieds, while magazines sell page ads. Circulation deals with subscribers. The sales and circulation departments can be the most financially rewarding of the industry.
Information from experience.com 6/2000
Positions held by Newhouse Class of 2005 graduates:
- Staff Writer/News Analyst - Advisory Board Co., Washington D.C.
- Sports Reporter - The Leader-Herald, Gloversville, NY
- Photo Research Assistant - The Robb Report, Malibu, Calif.
- Business Reporter - Stafford County Sun, Stafford County, Virginia
