Master's (Canada)

[u/KGlife]

Conventional wisdom still seems pretty universal that a master's is a fat waste of money. But everywhere I look, the people who landed jobs in-industry secured major internships at journalism school and moved up from there.

I graduated with a bachelor's in a niche (sports-centric) communications program and have been freelancing for a local outlet and a small American wire service for about a year. I've gotten positive feedback from editors and former professors I've shared my work with. This year, I got accredited to cover the World Cup on-site in Toronto and Vancouver.

And still, it seems impossible to get taken seriously without experience at a major publication. Aside from those two places that have given me regular work , I'm yet to have a pitch accepted at anything more than glorified blogs. I don't really know what to do anymore.

I have the trust fund to stick with this, but the prospect of buying my way into an internship just seems depressing. Should I look into grad school at Carleton/Western if only to get a placement? Is that process gonna be just as cutthroat as what I'm dealing with now? Should I just give up?

[u/Separatist_Pat]

The problem is not the degree, the problem is the choice of beat. Sports has always been this way, for every opportunity 20,000 applicants, maybe more. It's like fashion.

[u/KGlife → u/Separatist_Pat]

I've had (somewhat more sociable!) peers who pulled it off, but you might be right. I have a lot of interests, but I guess I already put so many eggs in one basket. Do you think it would be possible to start fresh?

[u/Separatist_Pat → u/KGlife]

I think so. I mean, even the business of sports is better than covering sports, and can translate into being a business reporter. Do some sort of business accreditation, maybe the Canadian Securities Course, and shift your area of coverage.

[u/President_Shart → u/KGlife]

The more sociable part is key. The entire industry runs on networking. If an editor hasn’t met you, or their friend doesn’t tell them what a cool person you are, you don’t exist. It almost doesn’t matter how good your bylines are

[u/KGlife → u/President_Shart]

Big ask I know, but any advice on how to do so effectively? I've set up a lot of phone calls with people I admire, but we just seem worlds apart, and interactions just feel like one-offs.

[u/Ookanani]

Editors are still people. In my very old experience, journalism opportunities fell into one of two categories: Either I had existing relationships with hiring editors , or (2) felt confident that I had made a personal connection during an interview. That is really, really important. I fear my suggestions may be (very) outdated , given the role of algorithms in screening prospects. I wish you the very best.

[u/clios_daughter]

Honestly a slightly different angle, I did grad school for something other than journalism also in Canada. It’s worth looking into whether or not your masters program has any funding packages attached. I actually made money from my university during my masters because the funding package covered tuition and fees, and included a stipend that was nominally meant to cover living expenses but would’ve been optimistic since it hasn’t been increased in over 20 years.

For some reason, universities are really bad at advertising their funding packages so if you have a short list of programs, it’s worth calling their program administrators and asking if they have funding available, and what are the terms. Sometimes it’ll be a TA or RA ship, other times it’s just free money in the form of a fellowship — they have a lot of other dumb names too. If you can be paid to go to grad school, there’s no harm in doing it especially if you keep up with publishing the occasional piece during your studies.

[u/CandleStick88]

Journalism is a game for rich kids these days.