Students visit alumni at The New York Times
The Media Living Learning Center students visited New York City on a networking and experience trip over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, Jan. 16-19. During the trip, they met with alumni and toured the offices of New York’s famous media sites.
By Jamie Zega
Members of the Media Living-Learning Center met with alumni Larry Buchanan Jan. 19 at The New York Times.
Buchanan led the residents through the newsrooms of the various sections of the Times, including graphics, the section in which Buchanan is an editor. In addition to the newsrooms, we saw the Pulitzer wall and Page One room.
“My favorite part of getting to visit The New York Times was visiting the Page One Room,” said freshman Carley Lanich. “I had just watched the Page One documentary on the way to New York, and I also recently finished a research project on editorial positions within the Times, so to me visiting the Page One Room was like experiencing my studies and interests coming to life.”
For journalism nerds like us, it was paradise. But it was also slightly discomforting to see such a magical place, with books and newspapers covering desks and incredible photos on the walls. Who am I, a lowly peasant in journalism programl, to imagine myself working at the most prestigious newspaper in the country, or even the world?
But that’s what journalism school is for: to learn.
In my short time in the Times building, I did pick up a couple lessons:
- Repetition at IU Journalism or the IDS are the best practice tools. Buchanan attributed the repetition of work at the IDS to helping him learn and prepare for his work at the Times. So, designing graphics or scanning for and removing every Oxford comma you see, or writing and rewriting every day eventually prepares us young journalists to take on the big league papers.
- Anything can happen. Networking and knowing the right people are crucial in finding jobs in any field, but particularly in journalism. You never know what kind of job opportunities will fall into your lap, whether it be a random encounter on the street, a guest at the school or a random New York Times editor reading your blog post (NYT: If you see this post, I’m available!).
Just because you grew up in middle-of-nowhere Indiana doesn’t mean the concrete jungle isn’t waiting for you.
Read more student reports from the Media LLC’s experiences in New York.