Newspaper Jobs for Teens
In the 21st century, newspapers have found themselves in financial dire straits as potential subscribers turn to the Internet for their news. They've cut staff and resources to make ends meet. In some cases, this can actually benefit teens looking for part-time, low-paying work in the journalism field because more and more papers are outsourcing some jobs to save money.
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Paper Delivery
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The newspaper delivery boy and girl are iconic American images that may be a dying breed. As the Internet becomes the primary news source for many, newspapers have struggled to remain solvent. As a result, newspaper home delivery may become more of a luxury with higher fees. While the bicycle used to be a primary mode of transportation for delivery boys and girls, automobiles are commonly used in some areas. It's a still a viable job for a teen with a driver's license. Besides delivering papers to subscribers, deliverers are required to collect money, pick up and return unsold papers from vendors, and keep records of driving expenses.
Sports Stringer
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Stringers gather stats and data from area high school sporting events for sportswriters on local daily newspapers. Since there are too many area games for sportswriters to cover, they rely on stringers for the basic information. Stringers are often the official scorers for high school baseball, basketball and football games. They'll either phone in the results or send them via e-mail. Information will often include stats such as, "Jones went three for four with a homer and 2 RBIs" or "Johnson rushed for 144 yards with two touchdowns." They'll provide highlights, such as "Robinson only shot three of 12 from the floor, but his three-pointer with two seconds left on the clock gave the Tigers the one-point victory." The sportswriter then cobbles the stringer's info together to write the story. Stringers will also often provide entire box scores. They're usually paid by the game.
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Freelancer
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Local weekly newspapers will often accept well-written freelance pieces from high school students. Aspiring writers should pitch the idea to the editor before writing it. If the editor likes the idea, she may provide some pointers and dictate how the article should be written and what it should include. To position himself for such assignments, the student should join the high school newspaper staff, the school's literary paper (if they have one) or the yearbook staff to hone his skills. Articles can be about school district activities, but can also focus on area personalities and goings-on. Freelancers are commonly paid by the article, which can be dependent on word count.
Summer Internships
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Many schools work in conjunction with local newspapers to provide summer internships for students. The students are usually required to have maintained a certain GPA, have worked on the high school paper and aspire to major in journalism or a related subject in college. While these are usually nonpaying positions, students can earn credit while they shadow editors, reporters, ad sales reps and other newspaper staff to learn the ins and outs of journalism and how newspapers are put together.
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References
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