Part-time reporting

Often times being a newspaper reporter is not quite as glamorous as it's portrayed in the movies and television. This is especially the case when reporting for a small, super local publication such as The Skyline View. Being a non-professional student reporter also has several drawbacks, which I shall enumerate in the following paragraphs


Working a story that takes you off campus can be especially difficult as non-professional reporter. I have a hotel job eight hours a day, four days a week in addition to all my classes, which already leaves not very much time to do extensive reporting. I simply don't have the time or resources to drive all over the Bay Area to meet sources. Even with sources that are closer to Skyline College, often it's hard to find meeting times that work for both their schedule and mine.

Finding sources that are willing to talk to you can sometimes be a challenge too working for a small publication. I imagine that larger papers with much more prestige would pique the interest of potential sources a lot more than a small time student reporter from The Skyline View, which has a limited readership.


This said, small time reporters should in no way be discouraged from pursuing sources that are famous public figures. When I was working a story about Justin Christian of the San Francisco Giants, I was not optimistic at all about getting an interview with him, but after a couple weeks of pestering I was able to get it done. 


If anything, working for a small publication requires just a little extra perseverance I guess.