Students came to the Brown Bag Lunch with their lunches packed and their questions ready. Director of community engagement and communications, and manager of the Detroit Journalism Cooperative for Detroit Public Television, Marty Fischhoff, and Reuters global race and justice editor and Eastern Michigan University graduate, Katrease Stafford, joined six students and two professors around noon on Friday, Feb. 16 in the lounge of King Hall.
In a relaxed setting, Fischhoff and Stafford chatted with and advised students while snacking in between responses. The conversation was kicked off with a question by The Eastern Echo newspaper advisor and professor, Christine Uthoff. From there professor You Li, associate professor of journalism at EMU, and other students took over.
A range of topics were discussed that afternoon including internship opportunities, scholarship access, digital journalism, and even concerns of artificial intelligence.
“Journalists need to be cautious how we employ it, where we employ it… I hope it could be used as an additive, not a replacement. Nobody can go out and interview people the way real journalists do. AI technology can’t capture the feeling when you're talking to someone and they're crying as they're speaking. Those things can never be replicated,” Stafford said.
Stafford also shared that with the connections she made at EMU, specifically at The Eastern Echo, she got the chance to work for the Associated Press and the Detroit Free Press. According to her, networking and building trusting relationships with professors is essential.
“It’s not just the grades, you have to have clips… They care about you’ve learned this in Journalism 315, now how do you apply it to an actual real-life example of how to write,” Stafford said.
Continuing, “you get a lot of no's along the way, but there will always be that one yes.”
Both Fischhoff and Stafford agree to stand out to hirers and that students need to build their resumes now while they have all the resources provided to them. However, it is more than having the resources in front of them. Students must prioritize their long-term goals, do the work, and strategize ways to positively impact the newsroom by doing things differently or from a new angle, Stafford said.
Stafford suggests starting this process early. Considering the kinds of articles students write, how important are the conversations it will spark? How is this impacting society? Journalists need to submerse themselves into the news, that way they can tell it from a variety of perspectives, she said.
Journalists who plan to report on screen versus on paper, have their own set of expectations.
“We would look for someone who is able to tell a visual story,” Fischhoff said.
According to Fischhoff, there are more opportunities beyond newspapers. There are digital aspects like editing, producing, or television. Students just have to find their skill set, Fischhoff said.
Leaving students with a piece of advice, Stafford said, “Build out your circle of people who can support you throughout the industry.” She also included “At the end of the day, it's on you. We can give you all the resources, give you all the access to all the fellowships but you have to figure out for yourself what makes sense for you and your schedule.”
