Tag Archives: career

Birmingham media in 2009: nasty, brutish and long

Posted on December 31, 2009 by | Leave a comment

A tag cloud of Media of Birmingham news headlines in 2009

Birmingham’s mainstream media professionals had a brutal 2009. Whether at newspapers, magazines or TV or radio stations, the news was overwhelmingly negative.

Nearly two dozen of our stories posted on Media of Birmingham regurgitated the alarming trends: cuts, layoffs, freezes, buyouts, slumps and terminations. Three magazines — Lipstick, Skirt and Southern Accents — folded in the past 12 months.

At least 100 people at these organizations lost their jobs. Even more frightening are the jobs that disappeared without a whisper, either by news outlets or this site. Who knows how bad it really is?

And that is the odd state of media in Birmingham in 2009. Sometimes, a blog for a professional networking group, or a whisper on Twitter or Facebook, is the only indication that a company is about to implode.

For those continuing to look for work within their current field, we can only wish you the best of luck. And for those working on Plan B for their careers, we offer our encouragement and our ideas.

Not all of you will stay in media, whether it’s advertising, marketing, journalism or whatever. The jobs are going away, and many are not coming back.

That doesn’t mean creative, smart professionals can’t carve out a new career. But it will take luck, talent and hard work, the tripod of success. Career transformation can be done, and it’s happening every day in Birmingham.

Media of Birmingham will continue to bring the news and information that matters to our audience, whether on this site or in our monthly events. We serve you, the city’s professional media community.

And we ask that you pitch in. Your ideas, your energy and your willingness to help keep this group thriving, even in a challenging year like this one.

The headlines may continue to be negative for some time. Only you can rewrite your own story.

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Media of Birmingham headlines from 2009

The bad news …

The not-so-bad news …

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Read more Birmingham media updates.

Have a news tip? Let us know!

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Next career: public relations

Posted on April 27, 2009 by | 2 comments

Birmingham journalists are facing tough times in the industry. Some are already out of work, while others are working harder than ever while facing budget and job cuts.

One option: public relations.

Washington blogger Lori Russo shares her ideas in a post called “Helping Reporters Out … In a Different Way” on her All Thoughts Considered blog. Russo worked previously as an assignment editor and sports producer at a Baltimore TV station. Now, she serves as vice president of Stanton Communications, a PR firm.

She lists attributes that journalists possess that would make them good PR practitioners:

  • Blinding Flash of the Obvious – You Know the Media
  • You Know the Anatomy of an Interview
  • You Know How to Sell an Idea

And she writes:

For journalists (or soon-to-be former journalists) looking to launch new careers, the field of public relations is a logical place to begin. Having made the transition from television to PR 10 years ago, I can confirm that there is a great deal of cross-over between the two industries and that a journalist’s skills translate very nicely into PR. We’re all storytellers – we just happen to be on different sides of the curtain.

If you’ve made the jump from journalism to public relations, let us know how it’s gone for you.

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The MOB Job Board

Posted on June 19, 2008 by | Leave a comment

Looking for a new job? Or just want to poke around and see what’s out there?

Check out our new MOB Job Board.

We feature Birmingham-area companies’ job postings in one convenient list. Want to add your company to the list at the right? Tell us.

Have a job you want us to post for free? Tell us.

And be sure to come by our monthly mixers. It’s a great way to find out first who’s hiring.

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