Oh, Silly Newspaper Websites...

Corporations and moguls continue to cripple our great newspapers. Consolidation and resource-sharing have stripped newsrooms and newsprint of their uniqueness, leaving them standardized and predictable. The desire to meet specific and immovable profit margins overrides the demand for well-trained professionals who offer nuanced reporting and editing.

Nowhere is this more evident than a newspaper's website. All I want to do is find an internship deadline and an application at some of the nation's leading dailies. And yet, wave after wave of fruitless links frustrate me to no end. My fist rolled in a ball, I resist launching a flurry of hooks at the mocking computer screen.

See, newspapers aren't going to offer crappy-paying internships up front. They're going to hide them, seclude them, surround them with links on news, then weather, then local, then business, then sports, then classifieds. Ho oh, the classifieds. You think that would be the place to find a job at your desired newspaper, but STAY YOUR TYPING FINGER, my friend. The "Jobs" link only leads to a forum for local jobs THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH JOURNALISM. Tricky, my elusive editing employers.

Instead, one must wade into the muck of the "Contact Us" or "About Us" sections, where a library of information awaits on various editors, columnists, reporters, or on the history, values, and direction of the paper. Don't click on "JOBS"!!!...Persist, and you will find that loving, alluring phrase: "Employment Opportunities (at the Fill-in-Newspaper)."

There is what you seek! But wait, more distractions! Do not heed the call for a newspaper delivery boy, those unsung heroes who rise at some godforsaken hour. Your goal awaits!

There! Internships!!! Arrrrgh, but more frustrations! Snail mail contact only?!! No phone? No e-mail! Surely a ploy!!!

Re-route to google, type in name, find some info, cross-check information...Voila! Contact information updated for the 21st century!

NOW to send in that preliminary interest e-mail to the corresponding editor...only to wait a probable month for a response.

Like they say,it's not what you know, it's who you don't bludgeon as you search for a newspaper internship.

Some tips on my journey:

Look up college sites on internships or entry-level jobs. I found some stuff on UC Berkeley's Journalism School website, but also found some good info. on NYU's and Columbia's schools of journalism.

Be persistent. Many newspapers have similar layouts, since they're owned by the same big company. Use that to your advantage. Look for familiar phrases like "About us" (code for Human Resources).

Make a list. Keep the newspapers you're interested in on some nice, handy, easy-to-refer-to list. Make a checklist to ensure you're checking up on these publications every so often.