Writing Jobs Hard to Get, Black Claims

Journalism is a tough field to crack and doesn't pay much when one does, five newspapermen agreed last night at the Placement Office's first conference. But there's "as little monotony in it as in any possible job."

Speaking before a jam-packed audience in the Union, the journalists said that newspaper morgers are greatly decreasing job opportunities and that the average linotypist is now earning more than the average reporter.

"The satisfaction of getting a by-line, however, is something managing editors pass out instead of money," encouraged Walter H. Waggoner of the New York Times Washington Bureau.

William M. Pinkerton, director of the University News Office, quoted the figure of $86 a week as scale for a Boston reporter with five years' experience "A cub," he announced, "only earns $45, and much less on a small-time newspaper."

Despite these disadvantages, a town paper is the best and almost only way to enter journalism, Robert W. Glasgow, Horlad Tribune labor reporter, said. "It's awfully difficult to get a job in New York these days."

Two hundred men apply each week for jobs on the Boston Globe, Foreign News Editor Herbert Black revealed. "But," he said, "if you come into the office with a good idea, you've got a chance."

Openings for foreign correspondents are even less, Pulitzer Prize winner George Weller '29 claimed. He said there are only 150 such American correspondents.

Opinions differed on the educational value of a college paper. "What better experience could you get than working on the CRIMSON?" asked Black. "You could use your time better in studies," retorted Glasgow.