Future journos: Promote yourself

As the competition for scoring journalism gigs soars, a panel of experts at CSUN today advised student journalists to use social networking to promote their work and to have a Plan B.

Liz Ohanesian,  a freelancer for the LA Weekly who specializes in pop culture, music, and LA

See austinevan's original photo here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/austinevan/3259931677/

subcultures,  advised:

• Go to online forums and chat.  It’s a good way to meet editors and writers and also to find sources.
• Have a good profile on Facebook, your blog, etc. that reflects your interests and includes links to your clips.
• As soon as your story comes out, make sure everyone instantly knows about it via your social networks.
• Respond to your audience – reTweet their posts, reply to comments on your blog,  link to them, etc.

You can find examples of how Liz does this on her pages at MySpace and Facebook as well as her Twitter page and BlipTV site.

Greg Lanier, TV drama writer, freelancer and former long-time print journalist, recommended students consider graduate school for the next couple of years until the economy perks up.   He suggested students have a Plan B and maybe Plans C (“something  to do with writing”), & D (“loading trucks”) as well.

Novelist and former journalist Paula Yoo, who likened the students to Hobbits rallying to save journalism’s future, recommended traditional networking with groups such as the Asian American Journalists Association.

No matter what the future of the journalism industry is, Lanier reminded students that for each of them, “You have to scratch and claw to make your own destiny.”

Iran & Iranian Women Panel on KPFK

One of the most important civil rights movements in the world today is going on in Iran where women, especially those under 30, are calling for gender equality.  They are being imprisoned, fined, harassed and banned from leaving their country.

Photo by H de C http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed.en

A Cal State Northridge Journalism Department’s panel discussion about this topic also revealed that:

• CSUN MA student Esha Momeni, who was imprisoned in Iran and has not been allowed to leave for more than 100 days, did not find feminism in the West as the news media have reported . She found it in Iran.
• The website for one of the key women’s rights groups, Campaign for Equality, has been blocked by the Iranian government 19 times.

Hear this and more from  Roja Bandari of the One Million Signature Campaign talking about the status of Iranian women and their Campaign for Equality Audio only:

Video of her talk, Part 1:

Part 2:

Also hear from Ariel Vegosen and Rae Abileah of CodePink who discuss citizen diplomacy, common misconceptions about Iran and their trip to that country as part of an interfaith dialogue.  They note:

• Only 500 Americans travel to Iran every year.
• Although the US is demanding Iran not have access to nukes, the American government introduced nuclear power to Iran under the Shah.

Audio: