Fun with journalism...

One of my last requirements before I graduate involves completing an "official" and "approved" internship through the BYU communications department. My high school work for the Deseret News qualifies for this, so it's not a huge concern.

I'm currently "officially" (you can see how happy I am with the bureaucracy of my department) registered to receive credit for the work I'm doing from May-August. June/July is usually when there's more down time with sports and so I've been in contact with the paper's Utah County bureau chief to see if there's stuff I can do outside the sports section, since I'm technically supposed to do the same amount of work every week I'm registered.

He has informed me that they are looking for two part-time community beat reporters to work a couple of 16-20 hour/week shifts this summer. The problem is three-fold. First of all, the shifts they need filled all involve evening and weekend hours that would basically scrap any plans I had outside of working for the entire summer.

Second, I'm paid quite well for the sports correspondent work I do for them. I haven't actually been told how much these part-time positions pay (the chief didn't mention that), but I talked to a classmate who had worked one of them. In his words, "you're basically working for free."

Third, although there are certain benefits that could come with the experience, my disenchantment with any and all journalism outside of sports is one of the big factors that has pushed me away from wanting to be a career journalist. I am simply not attracted to the idea of spending an entire summer writing about crime, citizen complaints, and community festivals.

With these apprehensions, I e-mailed the bureau chief and asked if I could come into the office to find out more. I received no response for almost a week, at which time he sent me a message only asking if I was "still interested" and saying they're in "dire need." I once again responded by saying I'm interested but would like to meet and sit down for a few minutes to find out more, when can I catch you in the office? - no response. This exchange leads me to believe they're mostly interested in finding a BYU student who will click their heels, salute, and jump at any offer with no questions asked.

Not to sound snobby or high-maintenance, but I'm just not that desperate for experience. For now, I doubt I'll be accepting one of the shifts, especially if it's this hard for the bureau chief to even tell me when I can come by to see him. I would like to see if there some other on-call or correspondent work that can be done until sports season starts. We'll see.

I just don't feel like it's worth sacrificing my entire summer to do assignments I have no desire to do and get paid next to nothing for it.

In the meantime, I think it's time I start prepping for the GMAT...