West Coast Media Jobs - 5/20/20
A Q&A with Sara Tardiff of Media Mess, plus open roles at Desert Publications, The Seattle Times & more!
Hey everyone,
Today, we’re going to start off with a Q&A with LA-based freelance writer Sara Tardiff, the founder of Media Mess, a new project that’ll examine how we can improve the media industry for the better and help provide support for media workers who have been impacted by the pandemic.
Media Mess is launching today! You can get involved by contributing your thoughts about how to make media better and donating to the cause if you can.
Sara was kind enough to take some time out to answer some questions about Media Mess via e-mail and let us know what it’s all about. Check out the interview below!
Sara Tardiff, founder of Media Mess
What inspired you to start Media Mess?
At the beginning of May, there were a reported 36,000 media workers who'd been laid off, furloughed, or had their pay reduced. Layoffs really are an unavoidable part of working in media, but never have I seen so many of my friends, co-workers past and present, mentors, people I admire, and industry fixtures be laid off en masse. Watching all of the unions hard at work has been endlessly inspiring, though. I've just been feeling really complacent and a bit helpless in searching for solutions—so I thought doing something, even if it's just asking for people's opinion on how to fix our industry, is better than doing nothing.
What are your goals and hopes for the project?
I’m hoping that hearing from media workers across different geographic locations, seniority rankings, departments, and more can help provide some varying perspectives on how media can survive the pandemic and improve moving forward. The idea of MEDIA MESS is to explore different solutions to the industry’s deeply-rooted issues, facilitate solution-focused convos, and offer a little hope for the future of media. Simultaneously, we’ll be raising money to help support media workers who’ve been impacted by the pandemic—largely focusing on relief funds for black and brown, lgbtq+, and disabled media workers.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the media industry right now?
People are looking for informed answers during a pandemic, so readership for many publications has dramatically increased. Yet because of cutbacks in ad revenue and senior employees only taking marginal pay cuts (if any at all), media workers are being laid-off in the thousands, left without health insurance, and are forced to turn to a virtually frozen job market and an already over-saturated freelancer market. These are all problems that absolutely predate the pandemic, but now they're being exacerbated to the point of unavoidability.
Has the pandemic affected your work as a freelance writer? If so, how?
Definitely! I've lost a number of recurring and one-off freelance gigs. I've never gotten so many "I'm sorry, but our budgets have been slashed" emails in my life. Sending pitches to editors whose inboxes are overflowing at the moment has felt a bit like screaming into the void.
What advice do you have for journalists who are just starting out during these uncertain times?
I remember being really annoyed in college when my professors were like, "Don't do it! Journalism is dying! Find another career path. I'm begging you, do literally anything else instead! Haha!" And I think, unfortunately, I'm too delusionally hopeful of a person to tell someone not to pursue what they're burning to do, even if it's a wildly unstable path to follow. I didn't listen, clearly.Â
I really liked in a recent interview for Delia Cai's newsletter, Deez Links, writer John Paul Brammer (who has a massive online following for his Substack column and Twitter) said, "I wanted a platform that couldn't be snagged out from under me and that didn't have a whole lot of institutional hurdles in place to access because I couldn't, like, intern in New York for a news outlet and I hadn't gone to an Ivy League or anything. I told myself just read, write, and share. Read, write, and share." If you can build an audience around yourself and your ideas, and not solely depend on the validation of a prestige publication, it's ultimately much harder to have that taken away from you.
Follow Media Mess on Twitter at @media__mess and follow Sara Tardiff at @saratardiff
From Poynter: 5 platforms to help you find your next journalism job by Mandy Hofmockel, who runs a really great journalism jobs newsletter that includes a photo of her dog
From the New York Times: I really enjoyed this package all about the Joys that still exist, even during these tough times.
From NPR: This week, the How I Built This Resilience series is highlighting fashion and beauty industry leaders this week via Facebook Live.
If you live in LA, it sounds like Notices of Non-Compliance from the LA Office of Finance went out. Here’s what it means if you received one and how you can renew your Business Tax Registration.
Sonia Weiser of the Opportunities of the Week newsletter for freelancer writers started the "Journalists/Communications Professionals Doing Pro Bono Work" spreadsheet. I added myself to this list as well — I’m willing to help with any early career challenges or regarding any of the other topics I listed!
Free classes:
115 Coursera Certificates You Can Earn for Free During the Coronavirus Pandemic
GetYourGuide has free virtual tours and experiences through its World at Home program
Moz Academy, using the code wegotthis (until 5/31)
CreativeLive’s free health and wellness streaming classes
Grants to aid freelancers during COVID-19: ICYMI, I’ve got a Twitter thread compiling them — I’m still adding to the thread as I find more.
Reminder: Due to the lack of journalism jobs out there, I’ve been included some copywriting, social media marketing, and internal comms jobs to give you the best chance at landing a role.
San Diego
Nexstar Media Group, Photographer/Editor
Irvine
Norvoc Bioscience, Popular Science Writer, Biology & Life Sciences
Orange County Business Journal, Journalist/Web Editor
El Segundo
Spectrum Networks, Digital Associate Producer
Culver City
Arrive Outdoors, Content and Community Marketing Manager
Welocalize, Dutch Music App Copy Editor
Los Angeles
Stop, Breath & Think (Meredith Corp), Senior Content Producer
ChowNow, Writer, Brand and Product
Looper, Interviewer/Feature Writer
Maffick, Digital Copy Editor
The Daily Hodl, Part-time Writer covering cryptocurrency
TOMS, Digital Content Specialist
Summer Fridays, Social Media Coordinator
Promoshin, Writer
Sherman Oaks
Scale Media, Copy Editor - B2C
Palm Springs
Desert Publications is hiring a Social Media Strategist and Digital Content Editor
San Luis Obispo
The Tribune, Reporter
Merced
Sunnyvale
Kettle, Web Copywriter
Walmart eCommerce, Technical Content Writer
Cupertino
Apple, Writing Manager
Sacramento
CalMatters is hiring for several positions, including Production Assistant, Engagement Editor, Economy Reporter, and Technology Reporter
San Francisco
Slack, Developer Content Writer
Autodesk, Website Content Strategist
80Twenty, Content Writer
Aha!, Content Editor
SF Weekly, Part-time Staff Writer
NerdWallet, Writer (Insurance)
Santa Rosa
The Press Democrat, Reporter
Seattle
The Seattle Times, Project Homeless Editor
Remote/Many Locations
The Motley Fool, Contract Copy Editor
Mashed, Food and Grocery Writer
Inquisitr, Full-Time Managing Editor
Brainscape, Senior Content Writer (Long-term Contract)
Martindale-Avvo, Freelance Legal Content Writers
The List, Women’s Lifestyle Feature/News Writer
Nicki Swift, Celeb Gossip Feature/News Writer
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Until next week! Stay safe.