Commentators/Columnists

[joecancer]

It seems to me that being a commentator/critic/columnist for a newspaper or other publication would be a good job for an INTP. Actually, that's my goal once I get back into journalism.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this career? Know of any INTP columnists? Basically, the job is coming up with something creative/witty/insightful to say every other day or so. I think I could handle that. The only problems I see are coming up with original topics and sticking with those topics in order to finish on deadline. Also, it's tough to break in as a columnist without first being a reporter. But once there, I think an INTP could thrive.

I just don't know if there are any INTPs columnists out there that I could read. Most seem to be EXXX.

It seems like there are a lot of INTP bloggers, and blogging isn't that much different than being a critic/columnist. Do we just have an aversion to being in the daily spotlight that writing for a big audience would provide?

[DevRock]

I would love to have a regular column, as I have opinions on almost everything. But, you WILL have to have some other experience first unless someone is willing to give you a break. Columnist positions are highly coveted, so there's always competition. You just have to make sure your column is open-ended enough where you wouldn't run out of things to talk about. Really, though, if it's based on current events (like most columns) then there is no end to the material.

[MacGuffin]

Bloggers passively report on other blogs/news and offer their own spin. Introverted.

Good columnists will go out and talk to people, at least on the phone for original material. Extraverted.

[joecancer]

True. Plus, bloggers have no deadlines, and no editors barking at them. Also, no wide audience that might not understand intp ideas.

Maybe humor columnist would be better for an intp.

[joecancer]

On the other hand, blogging is almost becoming a new form of journalism. All sorts of bloggers have become major media players. Maybe that means that we'll be the journalists of the future as traditional media continues to crumble.

[Serotonin]

Open source media. Interesting.

I think blogging is overrated. Interesting ones can change opinion, but it's so much easier to carp from the comfort of your bedroom than to be on the front line. Most bloggers tend to polarise to the left or right and view everything through their own prism. Thus, they aren't comitted to objectivism. Which is why primary source journalism will always be with us.

[joecancer]

I agree blogging is not really journalism. It can't be without any real editing process. But I don't understand why there aren't more INTP journalists, especially columnists or critics. I'm sure they are out there somewhere.

We may not like talking to people to get quotes, but most critics of the arts/architecture/politics/culture/sports etc. don't really have to gather facts as much as interpret them. We're supposedly the ones with the greatest precision of language, the best creative problem-solvers, and the generators of new ideas for society. Those qualities sound like what the job requires more than anything. But any time I see some columnist or critic interviewed on tv, I am usually shocked by how much of a loudmouth he/she is. Maybe that's why traditional media offers very little in the way of original thought, and maybe that's why they need more INTPs. Then again, "they" would probably not like us, and we would probably not like them.

[MacGuffin]

I agree blogging is not really journalism. It can't be without any real editing process. But I don't understand why there aren't more INTP journalists, especially columnists or critics. I'm sure they are out there somewhere.Journalists often work under pressure for deadlines with little pay. Not very attractive to INTPs. Plus the stories they work on can be pretty boring. The sexy stories go to the hotshot journalists who put in their dues.

Plus that whole interacting with lots of people (sources, other journalists, editors, etc.)

[joecancer]

I didn't think INTPs really cared about making much money. Also, columnists tend to make a lot more.
I don't really have a problem with deadlines. I used to be a reporter. The hardest parts for me were staying interested in mundane stories, and getting quotes/sources. I think being a columnist (of course easier said than done) would negate those problems.

[MacGuffin]

I didn't think INTPs really cared about making much money. Also, columnists tend to make a lot more.
I don't really have a problem with deadlines. I used to be a reporter. The hardest parts for me were staying interested in mundane stories, and getting quotes/sources. I think being a columnist (of course easier said than done) would negate those problems.How does one become a columnist? Do you have to be a reporter first?

I put making money because I could not see INTPs working under deadlines and pressure without some kind of reward.

I think we'd rather do something far less stressful than journalism for the same pay.

[joecancer]

Actually, I thrived on deadline pressure as a journalist. It forced me to do the writing. I think INTPs in general do well under deadline pressure because we are able to keep cool. It's different than the deadline pressure that a lawyer might face, for example. As a journalist, you have pretty much the same deadline every day or every week. So you're not really forced to keep track of deadlines like a lawyer might have to, and there's no way you could ever be surprised by one. And you only have to usually focus on one thing at a time, so you're rarely balancing multiple deadlines.

How does one become a columnist? That's a good question. I think the most traditional way is to spend years and years as a reporter, and then get lucky when a job opens up. That's why I gave up as a reporter after two years (also, I was bored by the subject matter).

But you could also just write columns on your own, and try to sell them. There are lots of different publications out there that might buy them. It would probably be tough to break in at a major newspaper, but a smaller newspaper or a magazine or website might bite. I know mediabistro.com offers classes in column writing. They help you put together clips and offer ideas on how to market yourself. It's something I'm going to do pretty soon. Now that the media world has changed, the traditional ways of getting to the top are no longer required. There are examples of bloggers getting big-time writing gigs. The best example is probably the sportsguy, who had a blog for a couple of years before landing a gig with espn.com's page 2. He writes for Jimmy Kimmel now. I'm pretty sure he's an IxTP.

[Hypnos]

Book or food critic would be fun. The ones I've interacted with seem quite introverted and thoughtful, and if they feel pressure, they don't let it on.

Books critics seem to be academics or freelance writers who've put in their dues, and now want a steady, relaxing gig based on reading they would do on their own time anyway. This leaves them free to work on their own projects or just putter around.

Becoming a food critic seems like a mysterious process, probably based on personal connections.

[joecancer]

You can always find some free weekly city paper that's looking for freelancers. In Chicago, for example, there's the Chicago Reader- which has all sorts of commentary on movies, food, books, the arts. They accept freelance work. You could build up some clips and try to sell them to get yourself a fulltime job somewhere. you've got to be good, but if you're an INTP, why wouldn't you be good?

[kuranes]

I've thought of doing this, and may eventually start in my spare time. There's a site called www.bookslut.com that would like contributors. Since I'm constantly reading anyway . . . . . . . . plus it's physically located here in Chicago. Also www.sobs.org also located in Chicago. ( Sobs is in Pilsen, perhaps the next Wicker Park. )

There's a series of books that could be called the "Noir series", I suppose. They publish Noir stories set in different cities by local writers. "Chicago Noir" was edited by an old Reader writer, Neil Pollock, who now lives in Texas, I think. I've never thought of writing for the Reader because I had the feeling that it was a very time consuming process to get in there, even on a very intermittent basis. Perhaps I was creating my own barriers. If I still lived in the city, it would be interesting to teach for Columbia College. There seems to be a network of connections to freelance art there. That's how Joe Meno gets along, a local writer that I finally met one night at Quimby's.

[joecancer]

http://www.chicagoreader.com/readerinc/freelance.html

It doesn't seem too difficult. Though of course I haven't tried yet. I've been meaning to.

What would you teach? Writing?

[kuranes]

http://www.chicagoreader.com/readerinc/freelance.html

It doesn't seem too difficult. Though of course I haven't tried yet. I've been meaning to.

What would you teach? Writing?

I suppose. I have a degree in Creative Writing, but I've made my living in Sales and Recruiting. I probably don't have the credentials they want. Which is why it's always remained on a vague horizon for me as far as really looking into it.

One thing I heard about, that you might want to look into, is taking a few courses on TV production, and then getting free time and access to facilities/equipment to do a "Wayne's World-style" public access show. Probably most people wouldn't even know it was on the airwaves to watch it, but you'd have a product in hand to sell to somebody if you ever got your foot in the door vs. just ideas etc. We have some of the best resources for comedy in the country here in Chi, which is why Saturday Night Live sends its recruiters to the Improv Olympics etc. It would be interesting to get some of these "undiscovered stars" and others down on tape, with the rights to use it.

The set-up was something I heard about from a guy who was in charge of some kind of video program at the Institute. He told me that you had to be a city resident, and have completed these Intro courses in order to get the keys to the kingdom, so to speak. He was doing a show called "Alter Boy", where an "alien" interviewed local color and eccentrics from the perspective of someone who knew nothing about how the status quo does things. I lost track of him, and don't know how many he ended up getting in the can.

[C.J.Woolf]

I think blogging is overrated. Interesting ones can change opinion, but it's so much easier to carp from the comfort of your bedroom than to be on the front line. Most bloggers tend to polarise to the left or right and view everything through their own prism. Thus, they aren't comitted to objectivism. Which is why primary source journalism will always be with us.
Many bloggers are -- or were -- working journalists. Some bloggers got press credentials and covered the 2004 presidential nominating conventions in person. The attraction for news and opinion blogging is that the blogger is his/her own editor. All the news they see fit to print.

A favorite target of both left and right-wing bloggers is the "mainstream media". Of course, like the blind men with the elephant, they see different things wrong with it. Somehow the MSM is biased against both the left and the right. Hmm. But I digress.

The bias and partisanship of blogs does not bother me. At least they're up front about it. I don't pay much attention to the MSM anymore except as a possible "primary source" because I question their objectivity. I've read stuff in blogs that I thought was vitally important but got little or no play in the MSM.

Intelligence gathering has two parts, collection and analysis. I think the MSM sucks at the second (with rare exceptions like PBS's Frontline -- kickass). Bloggers are not well-equipped to collect information, but they are perfectly capable of analyzing it.

By the way, I'm not saying a lot of what I think here because I don't want to rant right now.