usf media studies: USF Alumni Journalism Panel

It’s a small world after all; at least when it comes to the field of media and journalism.
USF alumni Jennifer Jolley exemplified this when she and seven other alumni came to speak and share their experiences with appreciative students.
Jolley, the senior member of the group, did not seem surprised when she knew the names of the younger journalists’ mentors.
This seemed to be the emphasis of the entire panel: networking and experience.
The panel as a whole seemed to agree that the most important thing for any of the young journalism students was to get an internship.
Vicky Nguyen, correspondent for NBC11, simply said to the students three consecutive times “get an internship.”
Tuon Lam, who knows something about internships completing five during his time at USF, said students should learn everything they can and getting an internship is the best way to do it.
He also said that at the very least, if you get an internship you can figure out what you do and don’t want to do.
Kent German, CNET cell phone editor, told students “definitely do what you want.” He said students have time during college that is beneficial for doing just that.
The panelists all said that as a journalist, unless you enjoy what you are doing there is no way you can live being a journalist.
The audience, which consisted of mostly students, and numbered to about 60 total, was allowed to ask questions of the panel after they all said what they believed was important in the career of journalism.
The panel was asked bluntly to state how much money they make by Foghorn stringer and journalism student Elyse Martin.
Although they seemed a bit taken aback, a couple said they were expecting it, and said that this is not a business you get into if you are looking for money.
Tiffany Maleshefski, a technical writer and contributor to Eweek.com among other things, told a story saying the moral was that you live and work for the experience, not for the money.
At the end of the discussion, sure enough, one could see the panelists exchanging contact information; networking is a job that never stops, and as long as journalists network with each other, the world will just keep getting smaller.