First Great Lakes Journalism Job and Internship Fair highly successful

Last Friday, Nov. 10, 2006, while colleges were observing Veteran’s Day, six Bowling Green State University students—Dave Herrera, Jackie Giammara, Lisa Halverstadt, Matthew Clark, Alison Kemp, and Patrick Maynard—and one BGSU graduate—Bob Moser—took it upon  themselves to organize and host a highly successful journalism job and internship fair at BGSU’s Olscamp Hall.

Dr. Smeeta Mishra (Assistant Professor of Journalism at BGSU) with Nancy Sharkey, Senior Editor (Recruiting) of the New York Times.

1

The fair began at 10:00AM and lasted until 7:00PM, with over 40 newspapers/magazines and 161 students from at least 4 states participating. The newspapers/magazines/associations included: New York Times, La Prensa, Toledo Free Press, Toledo Blade, Arizona Republic, Chicago Tribune, Delaware Gazette, Erie Times News, Columbus Dispatch, Detroit Free Press, Dayton Daily News, Boston Globe, Akron Beacon-Journal, Marion Chronicle Tribune, Canton Repository, Journal Gazette (Fort Wayne IN), Chronicle Telegram (Elyria), Crescent News, Crain Communications, Newspaper Network of Central Ohio, Cincinnati Magazine, Review Times (Fostoria), Advertiser Tribune  (Tiffin), Springfield News, Dayton Suburban Newspaper Group, Sandusky Register, Dailey Herald (Arlington Heights IL), Great Lakes Publishing Co., Lima News, and the Ohio Newspaper Association.

Nancy Sharkey, Senior Editor of the New York Times (Recruiting), was the luncheon keynote speaker.

The participating publications interviewed several dozen students each for possible internships or employment in areas of reporting, copy editing, photography, marketing, designing, advertising, public relations, opinion, film production, and web design.

According to co-organizer Herrera, a junior at BGSU majoring in Print Journalism, “All of us are excited about this event and the possibility of future annual fairs.”

For its first year, Herrera and Moser (the sole BGSU graduate that helped organize the event and who now works for The Daily Advertiser in Lafayette LA) were extremely pleased with the participation of the students and publications.