Jack Shafer will give you advice, as long as you promise not to take it.
“Any advice I have should be taken with a 10-pound grain of salt,” the veteran journalist said.
In August, Shafer was laid off from the online magazine Slate, where he edited and wrote the column “Press Box.”
The layoff received widespread attention within the journalism community, with fellow press critic Howard Kurtz tweeting it was “terrible news” and Shafer remains “one of the most original writers and thinkers around.”
A few weeks after leaving Slate, Shafer was hired by Reuters as an online media columnist.
Shafer said he was always interested in playing with words and reading newspapers, but really got into journalism in his late teens while working at McDonald’s.
“This guy working there said to me, ‘You’ve got a smart mouth on you, Shafer. You’re going to be a journalist one day, ‘” Shafer said.
Slate’s dismissal of the seasoned journalist comes at a time when Medill students like junior Emily Hatton are more concerned than ever about their career prospects.
“I am very worried about getting a job,” Hatton said. “Let’s put it this way. My friend and I have already agreed to have duplex cardboard boxes in an alley after graduation.”
Hatton said out of all journalism schools, Medill offers the best education and real world experience.
Still, in light of the current economy and changing news business, “you can’t predict anything,” she said.
Shafer said the tumultuous nature of the field is irrelevant – as long as you have talent.
“Do good work and you’ll get noticed,” Shafer said. “I don’t know anybody in my time who did good work and didn’t get noticed or hired.”
And how do you do “good work?”
“You’re either brilliant or you have a really great internship,” Shafer said.
Still, “there’s no magic advice” to ensure journalistic success, he added.
“I used to think that being well-read was the key, but that’s not true,” he said. Shafer said he has worked with excellent writers who never pick up a book.
His final words of wisdom?
“Just work hard.”
NOTE: This article has been edited from its original version. Shafer is not an Evanston resident. The Daily regrets the error.
