TANKING economy, check; struggling newspaper industry, check; few opportunities for fresh young talent, check.
So why would any fresh graduate choose to quadruple his student debt by going straight into graduate journalism school, only to enter an industry that is seemingly devoid of opportunities?
Well, I did. My friends thought I was insane, but I could not imagine doing anything else. I guess I also wanted to attend Columbia Journalism School because the idea of hazarding a calculated risk appealed to me.
Journalism is not dying. The industry is in flux right now because newspaper companies are paying for their past complacency and failure to adapt to technological innovations. Journalism will not die because it is public service at its core. People will always need to be informed, we just need to get used to delivering the news in multiple mediums.
Besides, it was this social function that attracted me to journalism in the first place. Rather than abandoning a sinking ship, I thought it would be a better idea to improve my craft and possibly play a part in revitalising the business.
Even so, the reality of this huge financial risk hit me only when I arrived in New York last August. There wasn’t a day that I didn’t hear of a layoff at some American newspaper, or how even esteemed brands such as Miami Herald and The Boston Globe were facing possible closures.
Then came the meltdown on Wall Street last September, which made for a great reporting experience. But as I found myself among the hoards of photographers outside the iconic Lehman Brothers building in midtown Manhattan, chasing the story, I also worried about my own job prospects.
Still, being at the centre of the past year’s events, particularly the historical election of Mr Barack Obama as the 44th American president, eventually put paid to any niggling self-doubt. I will always remember waking up at 4am to make the opening of a voting centre in Flushing, Queens, last November, along with the numerous lessons ingrained over long hours and cold days spent in Sunset Park, my beat neighbourhood in Brooklyn.
When the recession ends and the news business eventually reinvents itself, these experiences will stay with me and make me a better journalist, more equipped to operate in a constantly evolving industry.
On the Monday in the week I graduated in May, I found out I would be working at The Atlantic Monthly for six months – as an unpaid intern. Still, after having about 30 other applications rejected in the months before that, I was just grateful for something – anything. I dare say, though, that every single rejection has helped me better understand what I do not want to do.
Some might say I am still chasing my dreams, but me, I think I am already living them, although that’s a lot harder than I’d imagined. I’m glad I did not take the easy way out. True, I won’t be earning my keep any time soon, but that will happen. I’ll have the rest of my life to make sure it does.
The writer, 27, is an aspiring political and economic journalist. He graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in May.
This article first appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on Aug. 3 and online at the Singapore Press Holdings’ Asiaone portal on Aug. 9.