Every journalist has at one time received advice from a mentor or colleague that changed their life or how they viewed their career or work. You were asked via Twitter for the best advice you ever received. Here’s what you shared:

 
Best advice was actually criticism meted out by my old news reporting tutor at Cardiff Journalism School (UK) back in the 80s, on reading our pretentious efforts: “Boring Boring Boring!”

So best advice: don’t be boring.

- Jules Marshall

 
“Who, What, Where, When, How, and Why are your only honest friends.”

- submitted by Paul Wiggins

 
“Omit needless words.” – Strunk & White

“Everyone has a story to tell.” – late Elden R. Groves, Editor Emeritus, Farm and Dairy

- submitted by Susan Crowell

 
“Shake as many hands as possible. You never know who could be useful or helpful down the line.”

- submitted by Kase Wickman

 
“Never think you’re too good for PR”.

- submitted by Elizabeth Pears

 
The best advice I ever received is if you’re having trouble starting an assignment, just “get the paper dirty.” Once you start writing, the ideas will start to flow.

- Lauren Irwin

“Know your audience.”

These three words are key to communication and the best journalism is crap without communication. This isn’t merely what do audiences want to know (that part alone leads to gossip/entertainment news overload) but what they need to know and what you need to do to engage them to make message clear.

- Susan Kille

“Marry someone who understands journalism.”

- submitted by Jake Batsell, who was given the sage advice by veteran journalist Walter Cronkite when Jake was an undergrad at Arizona State. Jake will soon celebrate his seventh anniversary with Tracy Everbach, a fellow journalism professor and former reporter.

 

 
And here’s a few more from the web:

 
“Everything comes down to being able to write well. Before you write well, forget Facebook, Twitter, etc. And you learn to write well by reading lots of good stuff and write a lot yourself. And find a good editor!”

- Ben Hammersley, editor, Wired Magazine

 
“If you think the story is worth doing, fight for it.”

- Lester Graham, Great Lakes Radio Consortium

 
“Evolve.”

- Dave Lee

 
So what’s the best I received? Not advice really, but a warning from my former editor Kim Jace: “Those pants are too hip-hop for the newsroom.” The remark was made about some pants I wore that had patches on them and were indeed hip-hoppy, but the lesson I gleaned is that people trust those who look trustworthy, that I shouldn’t dress for the job I had (an internship at the time), but the job I wanted, and that I could be more than I was at the time.

 
You can find more advice for journalists at the Online Journalism Blog and the Journerdism post 32 of the best real world career and life tips for new journalism graduates entering the newspaper industry.

 

 
Also on 10,000 Words:

• How Twitter saved my career… and my life
• 25 Things I’ve Learned About Journalism
• 10 Things I wish they’d told me in J-School

If you ask a journalist to list their favorite fictional reporters from movies or television, you’ll probably hear the names Clark Kent, Lois Lane, or even Ron Burgundy. This post is a tribute to the great, unsung heroes of journalism, those fictional journalists that even real deal reporters should take notes from:

Angela Vidal and Scott Percival, Quarantine

What happens when you’re out shooting a puff piece and a zombie attack breaks out? You kick some zombie ass that’s what. Reporter Angela Vidal (Jennifer Carpenter) and cameraman Scott Percival (Steve Harris) keep the camera rolling, even as everyone around them turns into flesh-eating monsters. At one point, Scott uses the presumably very expensive camera as a weapon, knocking out zombies with the blunt end of the camera. He then wipes the blood off the lens and keeps rolling. Now that’s bad ass.

Polly Perkins, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Before the age of digital cameras and instant previewing, journalists were saddled with cameras that required the film to be developed before it could be viewed. Bad news for reporter Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow) who witnesses amazing adventures and spectacles along with ace pilot Joe Sullivan (Jude Law). The problem is she only has a few clicks left on her one and only camera. It is up to Polly to use her news judgment to decide which of the fantastic things she witnesses are worth capturing on film. She does a great job of it, saving her last few photos to document the awesome things around her. In the end, she saves her last image to photograph her true love Joe…a stirring idea until she realizes she left the lens cap on.

Colleen Lipman, Bring it on Again

Anyone who has ever worked at a college newspaper or broadcast outlet knows how challenging it can be to produce news with a short staff or limited resources. Student reporter Colleen Lipman (Katherine Bailess) makes the most of the situation, doing energetic standups from around the California State College campus and tossing live to…herself.

Edward Cunningham, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao

Small-town newspaperman Edward Cunningham (John Ericson) is a grizzled reporter who is singularly focused and will stop at nothing to expose the corruption of the town’s wealthy land-grabber Clinton Stark (Arthur O’Connell). That is until Dr. Lao (Tony Randall) and his crazy bananas circus comes to town. Edward must then pursue the two biggest stories ever to hit the town at the same time. He asks question, refuses to back down, and makes lots of stern, frowny-faces along the way.

Amber Atkins, Drop Dead Gorgeous

Amber Atkins (Kirsten Dunst), an aspiring journalist and contestant in the fictional Sarah Rose American Teen Princess Pageant, gets her shot when a television reporter is hit by a stray bullet during a live broadcast. She calmly picks up the microphone and begins recounting the events in true TV reporter style. For her grace under pressure, Amber is given a job as an evening news anchor at a local television station. Pretty impressive and one heck of a way to land a job.

 
Also on 10,000 Words:

• Great (or greatly amusing) fictional journalists
• DVD design: Great menus are great inspiration (Part I)
• How to use a video trailer to share your work with the world

Most company-issued business cards are bleak, soulless things that wouldn’t stand out in a crowd if they had legs and a 5-foot ladder. If the new era of journalism is all about branding and self-promotion, then you’ll need a business card that won’t get lost in the pack. Considering the inexpensive cost of getting business cards printed, there are very few reasons you shouldn’t create something a little more snazzy.

You have two options when creating a business card: either create one that incorporates your company logo or insignia (hi-res versions of which you can grab from a staff web producer) or create one that just has your name, occupation and personal info. This way you can have both your company business card and something more personal/informal you can also hand out to potential connections.

If you don’t have the design chops to create your own business card, you can either use an interesting template or ask a designer friend to help you out (though you should pay them something fair…no designer wants to work for free). If you need inspiration, you can check out one of the many posts on the web that showcase unique or interesting business cards, including this one, this one, and this one. You can also check out my business card here.

Once you have your design, you can use an online retailer like VistaPrint (which I personally recommend) or support local businesses and visit your local print shop. Just to give you some ideas, here are business cards from 10,000 Words readers:

Some say that paper business cards are dead, but this is far from true. Most professionals are expected to have a business card on hand to distribute, even if it only lists your online/social media presence. If you insist on ditching the cards and saving a tree, check out the app Bump for iPhone and Android which allows you to share your contact info with another person by simply bumping your phones together.

 
Also on 10,000 Words:

• 15 Journalists’ outstanding personal portfolios
• Pump up your portfolio via mobile or video
• 20 Photojournalists’ fantastic portfolios

As a thank you to everyone for following this blog and to commemorate an upcoming 10,000 followers on Twitter, 10,000 Words is going to give away lots of goodies via Twitter!

The big giveaway will happen all day Tuesday, June 8th, provided the 10,000 Words Twitter feed has reached the appropriate number of followers by then. If not, check back on this blog post to see when the giveaways will happen.

 


 
Want to get in on the action early? Just send a tweet with a link to your favorite 10,000 Words post and include “@10000Words” in the tweet. 10 entrants will be randomly selected and each will win a $10 Amazon gift certificate!

The only way you can participate is to follow @10000Words on Twitter. If you aren’t a Twitter member, join now, tell your friends, and we can get this party started! And, of course, a big thank you to everyone for following 10,000 Words!

 
 
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