John Kass on getting a job in journalism

Tribune columnist John Kass was our keynote speaker Friday at the Illinois College Press Association Convention. Some highlights:

• He compared Illinois politicians to “medieval warlords who put their idiot children in front of the peasants and say ‘this is your new leader.’”
  
• “In politics, friends and enemies are not permanent. Interests are. … Don’t be friends with these people.”
  
• Bloggers who report can find jobs in this business. Bloggers who only ruminate will not. “Change out of your pajamas and go outside with a notebook.”
  
• “Don’t use your reporter notebook as a weapon.” In other words, keep it in your pocket or purse when you first arrive at a scene, and just talk to people first.
  
• There are three ways people get jobs in journalism. One, your parents know people. Two, you make yourself a top student and get all the best internships (which often are unpaid and many students can’t afford to take). Or three, you get the stories that groups 1 and 2 don’t get.
  
• If you want to move up the ladder in journalism, “Give yourself five years and work your butt off.” Use nights and weekends to work on enterprise stories. “Get to work early. Stay late. Keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut. Write with a voice, and with facts.”
  
• The quickest way to the Tribune or other destination paper from a small suburban paper is to get the stories they don’t. “If you are beating the hell out of them, they’re going to notice you.”